IC-NRLF 


Soldier's  Foot 

and  the  Military  Shoe 


The  Soldier's  Foot 
and  the  Military  Shoe 


A  HANDBOOK  FOR  OFFICERS 
AND  NONCOMMISSIONED 
OFFICERS  OF  THE  LINE 


BY 


EDWARD  LYM AN  MUNSON,  A.  M.,  M.  D. 

Major,  Medical  Corps,  United  States  Army. 

President,  Army  Shoe  Board;  Director,  Field  Service 

School  for  Medical  Officers,  The  Army  Service 

Schools,  Fort  Leavenworth,  Kansas. 


54  ILLUSTRATIONS 


Approved  by  the  War  Department. 

FORT  LEAVENWORTH,  KANSAS 
1912 


M 


COPYRIGHT,  1912, 
BY  EDWARD  L,  MUNSON 


Agents: 

U.  S.  CAVALRY  ASSOCIATION 
FORT  LEAVEN  WORTH,  KANSAS 


PRESS   OF 

GEORGE  BANTA  PUBLISHING  COMPANY 
MENASHA,  WISCONSIN 


PREFACE 

In  the  investigation  of  the  Army  Shoe  Board,  which  ex- 
tended over  four  years  and  included  the  critical  study  of  the 
feet  of  some  two  thousand  soldiers,  the  fitting  of  many  thous- 
ands of  pairs  of  shoes,  and  many  months  of  direct  inquiry 
into  the  causes  affecting  the  shoeing  of  the  United  States 
soldier,  it  became  evident  that  in  very  many  instances  the 
faulty  conditions  found  were  due  to  lack  of  information  on 
this  important  subject  on  the  part  of  the  officers  and  noncom- 
missioned officers  of  the  line  concerned. 

The  purpose  of  this,  book  is  to  supply  the  practical  infor- 
mation on  this  subject  which  has  not  heretofore  been  available, 
and  without  which  it  cannot  be  expected  that  the  several  fac- 
tors which  must  correlate  in  order  to  produce  the  best  foot 
conditions  and  marching  capacity  among  American  troops 
will  be  suitably  recognized  and  satisfactorily  coordinated. 

To  Captain  William  J.  Glasgow,  General  Staff,  and  First 
Lieutenant  Benjamin  F.  Miller,  27th  Infantry,  who,  with  the 
author,  composed  the  Shoe  Board,  and  to  Captain  John  R.  R. 
Hannay,  22d  Infantry,  later  added  as  an  additional  member, 
very  many  of  the  new  points  here  brought  out  on  the  sub- 
ject of  the  military  foot  and  footwear  must  be  attributed. 

THE  ARMY  SERVICE  SCHOOLS,  E.  L.  M. 

FORT  LEAVENWORTH,  KANSAS, 
JULY  31, 1912. 


281654 


CONTENTS 

FOOT  INJURIES  AND  MARCHING  CAPACITY      ....        i 

THE  ANATOMY  AND  USE  OF  THE  FOOT 7 

THE  MILITARY  SHOE 34 

THE  FITTING  OF  MILITARY  SHOES 67 

SHOE  SUPPLY 93 

THE  CARE  OF  THE  FEET 98 

THE  SOCK          .    • 137 

THE  CARE  OF  THE  SHOES .        141 


CHAPTER  I. 
FOOT  INJURIES  AND  MARCHING  CAPACITY. 

It  will  not  be  disputed  that  the  marching  powers  of  foot 
troops  are  a  most  important  factor  in  the  conduction  and  suc- 
cess of  battles  and  campaigns,  and  that  the  army  which  marches 
best,  other  things  being  equal,  is  the,  successful  army.  Mobi- 
lity is  the  key  of  military  success,  and  troops  which  cannot 
march  will  not  be  given,  by  a  more  vigorous  enemy,  oppor- 
tunity to  fight  except  under  what  may  prove  to  be  decisive 
military  disadvantage.  History  is  full  of  instances  where  mili- 
tary success  has  been  won  more  by  marching  than  by  fighting, 
and  as  time  goes  on  rapidity  of  movement  will  probably  be  an 
even  greater  element  in  military  strategy  in  wars  of  the  future 
than  it  has  been  in  the  past.  The  advantage  of  position,  by 
which  both  the  disadvantage  of  inferior  force  may  be  mini- 
mized and  the  power  of  superior  strength  still  further  en- 
hanced, is  the  object  of  every  commander. 

Furse,  in  his  "Art  of  Marching"  says:  "Marching  is  the 
foundation  of  all  operation  in  war.  An  army  below  the  stand- 
ard in  marching  power  is  at  the  mercy  of  a  more  mobile 
force.  Actual  battle  consumes  but  a  fraction  of  the  time  spent 
in  marching.  The  most  brilliant  plans  fail  if  the  troops  do  not 
inarch  the  distances  calculated  upon.  Mobility  is  the  first 
requisite  of  the  soldier". 

Napoleon  is  reported  to  have  said  that  he  made  war  not 
so  much  with  the  arms  as  the  legs  of  his  soldiers,  while  For- 
rest defined  the  art  of  war  as  "getting  there  first  with  the  most 
men".  Many  examples  could  be  given  where  battles  have 
been  lost  and  won  by  marching  capacity.  Waterloo  was  lost 
and  history  changed  because  of  delay  in  the  arrival  of  the 
expected  French  reinforcements — while  the  march  of  Jack- 
son's socalled  "foot  cavalry"  in  the  Manassas  campaign  of 
1863  turned  Pope's  anticipated  victory  into  the  defeat  of  the 


2  The  Soldier's  Foot  and  the  Military  Shoe 

Second  Bull  Run.  War  has  become  a  business  in  which  each 
unit  has  its  part  to  play ;  and  the  soldier  whose  badly  shod  feet 
are  unable  to  carry  him  into  battle  fails  at  the  critical  moment 
of  the  purpose  for  which  he  was  trained,  and  instead  of 
being  an  added  strength  he  becomes  an  incumbrance. 

The  effect  of  badly  fitting  shoes  upon  the  psychology  of 
war  is  very  great.  Even  where  the  soldier  is  able  to  continue 
the  march,  the  discomfort  produced  at  every  step  soon  redu- 
ces buoyancy  of  spirit,  causes  mental  irritability  and  mater- 
ially diminishes  fighting  capacity.  As  the  attention  and  inter- 
est of  the  soldier  is  focussed  upon  his  own  personal  condition 
and  withdrawn  from  matters  relating  to  the  success  of  the 
military  enterprise  as  a  whole,  the  mental  force  which  in- 
spires the  command  to  military  achievement  is  dissipated  and 
lost. 

Some  foot  defects  are  in  the  nature  of  deformity  in  the 
anatomical  relations  of  the  foot  structures.  These  mechani- 
cally weaken  the  foot  and  prevent  it  from  exerting  its  powers 
to  best  advantage  in  the  propulsion  of  the  body  in  marching. 
Pain,  also,  may  accompany  these  foot  deformities  and  ser- 
iously interfere  with  marching  power.  Blisters  and  other 
injuries  of  the  feet,  which  in  themselves  may  be  of  no  import- 
ance, require  rest  for  their  recovery.  For  this  reason,  they 
possess  a  very  great  practical  interest  from  the  military  point 
of  view,  since  they  rapidly  render  a  large  number  of  men 
unfit  for  service  and  so  diminish  in  large  proportion  the  effect- 
ive force  relied  upon  at  the  beginning  of  a  campaign. 

The  amount  of  disability  from  foot  injury  in  modern 
armies  is  enormous.  Brandt  calculated  that  seven  per  cent 
of  conscripts  annually  drafted  for  the  German  army  are 
found  unfit  for  military  service  by  reason  of  foot  defects  due 
to  bad  shoeing.  Lindau  found  that  of  ten  thousand  men  dis- 
charged annually  from  the  German  army  for  physical  dis- 
ability in  time  of  peace,  four  hundred  were  for  affections  of 
the  feet — a  proportion  which  he  states  would  be  tremendously 
increased  in  time  of  hostilities.  In  the  early  part  of  the  Franco- 
Prussian  War,  in  the  Tenth  Army  Corps,  the  constant  inef- 


The  Soldier's  Foot  and  the  Military  Shoe  3 

fectiveness  from  injury  to  the  feet  as  a  result  of  marching 
ranged  from  eight  to  ten  per  cent;  and  it  is  said  that  at  one 
time  not  less  than  thirty  thousand  German  soldiers  were,  from 
this  cause  alone,  incapacitated  for  field  service. 

Leques  found  that  excoriations  of  the  feet  figured  as  one- 
third  of  all  the  causes  of  exemption  from  active  service  among 
young  French  soldiers  in  campaign.  In  our  Civil  War,  whole 
brigades  were  said  to  have  been  temporarily  disabled  and  pre- 
vented from  marching  from  this  cause.  Germaine  has  esti- 
mated that,  after  several  days  marching,  about  one-fourth  of 
an  infantry  command  would  present  excoriations  of  the  feet 
and  not  less  than  ten  per  cent  of  the  command  would  be  in 
the  hands  of  the  surgeon;  while  military  statistics  in  general 
show  that  from  one-fourth  to  one-third  of  a  command  sus- 
tains foot  injury  in  the  first  few  days'  marching.  It  has  been 
estimated  that  for  European  armies  an  average  loss  of  ten 
per  cent  must  be  expected  from  this  cause  among  unseasoned 
troops  on  taking  the  field. 

Examples  of  such  incapacity  and  losses  in  our  own  army 
in  more  recent  times  are  not  wanting.  Probably  not  an  indi- 
vidual of  any  extended  military  experience  but  can  recall  in- 
stances in  which  the  capacity  of  his  command  for  marching 
was  greatly  diminished,  and  its  effectiveness  as  a  fighting  force 
materially  impaired,  as  a  result  of  foot  injuries.  Many  exam- 
ples might  here  be  cited,  but  the  following  instance  which 
occurred  in  the  experience  of  the  Shoe  Board  is  sufficiently 
typical. 

In  1908,  a  battalion  of  United  States  infantry  took  a  prac- 
tice march  in  shoes  which  the  men  had  themselves  selected. 
It  marched  eight  miles,  went  into  camp  for  twenty-four  hours, 
and  then  returned  by  the  same  route  to  the  post.  The  mem- 
bers of  the  board  examined  the  feet  of  all  the  men  of  the 
battalion  at  the  end  of  the  first  day  and  again  on  their  return. 
On  the  first  day,  30  per  cent,  and  on  the  last  day  38  per  cent, 
of  the  command  were  found  to  have  severe  foot  injuries,  some 
requiring  hospital  treatment.  The  feet  of  many  others  were 
reddened  and  sore  from  this  short  march,  and  a  few  more 


4  The  Soldier's  Foot  and  the  Military  Shoe 

miles  of  marching  would  have  converted  these  painful  areas 
into  blisters,  and  small  blisters  into  large  ones.  This  march 
is  illuminative  of  what  may  be  expected  in  our  service  if  the 
matter  of  shoes  and  shoe  fitting  is  turned  over  to  the  men  and 
the  matter  of  shoe  supply  is  not  given  the  attention  its  im- 
portance deserves. 

But  because  foot  injuries  have  usually  been  so  common 
among  soldiers  of  all  armies  is  no  reason  for  our  accepting 
them  with  patient  resignation  as  one  of  the  inevitable  con- 
comitants of  field  service.  The  opposite  is  in  fact  the  case. 
It  is  of  grave  military  concern  that  the  mere  act  of  mobilizing 
a  large  military  force  by  marching  may  require  the  immediate 
temporary  discount  of  some  ten  per  cent,  of  those  previously 
effective,  from  foot  injury.  A  cause  which  operates — without 
any  possible  compensating  results — in  practically  every  com- 
mand at  the  beginning  of  a  campaign  to  bring  about  the  absence 
on  the  firing  line  of  as  many  men  as  would  be  lost  to  that 
command  as  the  result  of  a  pitched  battle  is  worthy  of  far 
more  careful  and  thorough  investigation  than  it  has  heretofore 
received.  Inquiry  shows  that  the  armies  of  different  countries 
are  not  alike — and  within  the  same  army  its  various  component 
organizations  may  be  quite  dissimilar — in  this  respect.  More- 
over, it  has  happened  that  troops  have  been  put  into  proper 
shoes  and  marched  under  field  service  conditions  over  long 
distances  without  the  slightest  loss  from  a  cause  which  usually 
operates  so  severely.  These  exceptions,  few  and  isolated 
though  they  may  be,  are  proof  positive  that  the  general  rule 
is  the  result  of  conditions  which  are  unnecessary  or  removable. 
It  thus  becomes  evident  that  proper  care  relative  to  the  feet  and 
shoes  of  infantry  soldiers  will  be  well  recompensed  by  the  in- 
creased efficiency  of  the  latter.  Since  it  appears  that  disability 
from  foot  injury  can  be  prevented,  it  becomes  a  military  duty 
to  apply  at  all  times  the  measures  which  it  can  be  demonstrated 
will  accomplish  prevention. 

In  this  connection,  a  brief  summary  regarding  a  recent 
march  by  regular  infantry  will  be  instructive.  In  this  test 
march,  which  was  conducted  by  the  Shoe  Board  to  try  out  the 


The  Soldier's  Foot  and  the  Military  Shoe  5 

several  military  shoes,  three  types  of  the  latter  were  employed, 
viz:  the  garrison  tan  shoe,  the  marching  shoe  of  1912  con- 
tracts, and  the  military  shoe  devised  by  the  board.  Enlisted 
men  were  fitted  with  a  pair  of  one  of  these  types — in  regular 
sequence  and  irrespective  of  their  preferences  or  desires,  as 
the  purpose  was  to  determine  and  compare  the  respective 
effects  of  these  different  shoes  upon  the  foot  of  the  soldier 
class  as  a  whole.  But  within  each  class,  fittings  were  made  as 
accurate  and  comfortable  as  possible.  A  full  supply  of  all 
sizes  and  widths  of  each  of  these  varieties  of  shoes  was  avail- 
able for  fitting.  Eight  companies  participated  in  the  march, 
and  in  each  company  about  one-third  the  men  had  the  same 
kind  of  shoe.  The  latter  were  worn  by  the  men  from  twelve 
days  to  two  weeks  before  the  march,  so  as  to  get  the  feet  rea- 
sonably habituated  to  the  shape  of  the  shoe  supplied.  Light 
wool  socks  were  used  for  fitting  and  marching.  The  march 
included  nine  marching  days ;  while  the  distance  covered 
scaled  117^  miles  but  was  probably  at  least  120  miles  from 
bends  and  inequalities  of  the  terrain.  The  shortest  march 
was  8  miles;  the  longest  21  miles.  A  total  of  379  officers 
and  men,  of  whom  44  per  cent  were  recruits  of  less  than  six 
months  service,  started  on  the  march  and  352  completed  it. 
The  full  equipment,  with  ammunition,  was  carried.  Not  a 
single  man  failed  to  complete  each  day's  march  as  a  result  of 
foot  injury;  losses  from  the  command  being  due  to  a  few 
cases  of  illness  and  accident  and  detachment  for  other  duty 
on  orders  from  higher  authority.  The  feet  of  each  man  were 
inspected  by  the  board  after  each  day's  march,  and  even  the 
slightest  pinhead  blister  was  noted  on  the  man's  record  card. 
Many  of  the  injuries  so  reported  were  so  trivial  that  at  in- 
spection on  the  following  day  they  were  not  apparent  and 
even  their  former  location  could  scarcely  be  determined.  This 
demonstration  of  the  fact  that  it  is  quite  possible  to  march 
American  troops  long  distances  without  appreciable  loss  from 
foot  injury  is  in  marked  contrast  with  the  heavy  loss  which 
has  habitually  occurred  under  similar  conditions  in  our  own 
and  other  armies.  The  result  justified  the  belief  long  held  by/ 


6  The  Soldier's  Foot  and  the  Military  Shoe 

the  board  that  any  of  the  shoes  as  furnished  by  the  Quarter- 
master's Department  were  fairly  satisfactory,  and  that  shoe 
difficulties  and  foot  injuries  heretofore  obtaining  in  our  army 
were  chiefly  due  to  shortage  in  the  supply  of  sizes  and  widths 
of  shoes  available  to  troops  through  post  quartermasters,  and 
to  ignorance,  indifference  and  neglect  on  the  part  of  company 
commanders  in  respect  to  the  fitting  to  the  feet  of  their  men 
with  such  shoes  as  were  available.  Only  such  personal  attention 
was  given  by  the  board  to  fitting  as  might  reasonably  be  re- 
quired of  organization  commanders  and  only  such  simple 
measures  of  foot  cleanliness  and  care  were  carried  out  as 
could  be  enforced  by  the  latter.  Such  trifling  injuries  as 
occurred,  chiefly  developed  during  the  first  few  days  when 
the  men's  feet  were  tender;  and  after  the  long  21  mile  march, 
which  was  quite  a  severe  test  of  the  feet  and  endurance  of  the 
command.  The  percentage  of  recruits  who  developed  foot 
injury  was  slightly  less  than  that  of  the  old  soldiers,  showing 
that  length  of  service  is  not  necessarily  the  important  factor 
that  it  has  heretofore  been  generally  regarded,  and  that  the 
higher  proportion  of  recruits  who  in  the  past  have  probably 
had  foot  injuries  was  probably  due  to  the  difficulty  in  fitting 
themselves,  with  shoes  of  a  new  shape,  in  the  sizes  and  widths 
to  which  they  had  been  previously  accustomed.  In  the  entire 
march,  190  men,  or  56.5%,  never  at  any  time  suffered  the 
most  trifling  injury  of  the  feet;  while  43.5%  at  one  time  or 
another  suffered  an  appreciable  lesion  ranging  from  a  pinhead 
blister  undiscernable  the  next  day  to  those  of  slightly  larger 
size.  Practically  not  a  single  injury  of  those  which  occurred 
was  either  large  or  severe.  It  thus  appears  that  a  very  large 
proportion  of  the  foot  injuries  common  to  marching  troops,  in 
number,  extent  and  gravity,  are  unnecessary,  are  preventable 
by  simple  measures,  and  should  be  so  prevented. 


The  Soldier's  Foot  and  the  Military  Shoe  J 

CHAPTER  II. 
THE  ANATOMY  AND  USE  OF  THE  FOOT. 

The  human  foot  is  not  to  be  regarded,  as  seems  almost  to 
be  the  idea  with  many,  as  an  incoordinating  mass  of  flesh, 
bone  and  gristle  which  may  with  impunity  be  crowded  into 
almost  any  sort  of  protective  covering  to  form  a  fleshy  peg, 
more  or  less  similar  to  a  horse's  hoof,  on  which  to  walk.  It 
is,  on  the  contrary,  one  of  the  most  intricate  anatomical  struc- 
tures of  the  human  body.  Every  one  of  its  parts  has  a  definite 
function,  and  interference  with  its  normal  anatomical  rela- 
tions and  development  produces  a  corresponding  structural 
defect  or  weakness  which  will  always  to  some  extent  dimin- 
ish— and  not  rarely  is  completely  destructive  of — the  capacity 
to  accomplish  military  marching. 

Officers  of  the  mounted  branches  are  carefully  instructed  in 
the  anatomy  of  the  horse,  with  special  attention  to  the  hoof, 
foot  and  their  related  structures.  For  the  cavalryman,  it  is 
appreciated  that  a  competent  knowledge  of  the  inter-relations 
and  coordinate  functions  of  bone,  muscle  and  sinew  form  an 
essential  to  the  proper  care  and  shoeing  of  the  feet  of  his 
mount.  This  truth  applies  with  even  greater  force  to  the  sol- 
dier's foot;  which  in  its  structural  anatomy  is  far  more 
complex  and  delicate  than  that  of  a  horse  or  mule,  and  in  addi- 
tion is  compelled  to  wear  a  protection  which,  if  poorly  fitted, 
is  much  more  liable  to  produce  marching  disability  in  the 
man  than  it  is  in  the  animal.  It  is  impossible  to  effectively 
select  and  adapt  a  proper  military  shoe  without  a  sufficiently 
comprehensive  and  intelligent  knowledge  of  the  integral  and 
coordinating  structures  of  the  soldier's  foot  which  is  proposed 
to  cover ;  yet  study  of  the  elementary  regional  anatomy  of  the 
human  foot  by  all  officers — including  those  specially  concerned 
with  dismounted  troops — seems  to  have  been  practically  dis- 
regarded in  our  service.  It  is  of  course  not  necessary  that 


The  Soldier's  Foot  and  the  Military  Shoe 


Fig.l 


Skeleton    of   right   foot,    seen    from   above.      (From    Gray's   Anatomy.) 


The  Soldiers  Foot  and  the  Military  Shoe 


Fig.  2 


Skeleton  of  right  foot,  seen   from  below.      (From  Gray's  Anatomy.) 


10 


The  Soldier's  Foot  and  the  Military  Shoe 


line  officers  should  go  into  minor  details  in  this  respect,  or 
learn  confusing  medical  terms ;  but  it  is  not  too  much  to  expect 
that  they  should  at  least  gain  and  carry  in  their  minds  a  gen- 
eral idea  of  the  nature  of  the  more  important  structures  of 
the  foot  and  ankle,  with  the  individual  and  collective  purpose 
and  use  of  these  parts.  Indifference  is  probably  not  so  much 
the  cause  of  the  lack  of  proper  knowledge  in  this  respect,  as 
is  the  fact  that  appropriate  attention  has  not  been  directed  to 
the  matter  and  the  necessary  information  has  not  been  readily 
available  in  suitable  form.  The  foot  has  two  functions :  That 
of  passive  support  of  the  body  in  standing,  and  use  as  a  lever 
to  raise  and  propel  the  body  in  walking. 

The  human  foot  has  as  its  general  basis  a  framework  or 
skeleton,  composed  of  twenty-six  bones  (See  Figures  I  and 
2).  Of  these,  nineteen  are  the  so-called  long  bones,  composed 
chiefly  of  -hard,  firm  bony  tissues,  of  smooth  surfaces  and 

Fig.  3 


PLANTAR  V.&A. 


Section  through  foot  on  line  of  great  toe.     (From  Volsz.) 

various  sizes,  and  joining  with  other  bones  at  their  ends 
only.  The  remaining  seven  bones,  of  various  sizes,  are  com- 
posed of  bone  which  is  loose  and  spongy  in  texture;  these 
bones  have  the  appearance  of  irregular  pebbles,  and  have 


The  Soldier's  Foot  and  the  Military  Shoe 


ii 


Fig.  4 


many  smooth  facets  forming  surfaces  for  joining  with  ad- 
jacent bones,  by  which  each  bone  is  in  contact  with  from 
four  to  six  others.  Fourteen  of  the  long  bones  above  men- 
tioned are  small  and  belong  to  the  toes,  while  the  other  five 
are  much  longer  and  form  the  metatarsus  or  ball  of  the  foot. 
The  seven  irregular  and  spongy  bones  form  the  basis  of  the 
foot  arch  and  heel  (See  Figs.  3  and  4).  One  of  these — the 
astragalus — articulates  with  the  leg  bones  to  form  the  ankle 
joint  (See  Figs.  3  and  4). 

The  heel  is  obviously  intended  by  nature,  through  both 
position  and  structure,  to  receive  the  shock  of  impact  of  the 
foot  against  the  ground  and  support  the  greater  part  of  the 
weight  of  the  body  and  burden  in  standing  and  at  the  be- 
ginning of  a  new  step.  (See  especially  Figs.  3  and  4).  The 
os  calcis,  or  heel  bone,  lies  almost  in  prolongation  of  the  line 
of  the  center  of  gravity  of  the  body  as  represented  by  the  leg 

bones.  It  is  the  largest  bone  of  the 
foot,  is  broad  and  strong,  and  arti- 
culates closely  with  the  astragalus 
—which  lies  above  and  in  front  of 
it  and  forms  the  keystone  of  the 
foot  arch.  The  rear  prominence 
of  this  heel  bone  is  the  point  of 
attachment  of  the  tendon  of  pow- 
erful muscles  of  the  calf  of  the  leg, 
which  by  their  action  lift  the  heel 
and  rear  of  the  foot  off  the  ground 
and  thus  accomplish  the  first  move- 
ment of  the  foot  in  walking.  (  See 
Fig.  3).  This  heel  bone  is  guarded 
against  injury  by  an  especially  thick 
layer  of  skin,  fatty  and  fibrous  tis- 
sue and  muscle  (well  shown  in 

Transverse     vertical     section™ 
through       ankle       joint.          (From      r'lgS.    3    and   4),    Which    SCFVe    as    an 

efficient  cushion  between  it  and  the 

ground.  It  is  held  firmly  in  position  and  attached  to  the  bone  it 
articulates  with  (the  astragalus),  and  with  other  bones  anterior 


12 


The  Soldier's  Foot  and  the  Military  Shoe 


to  it,  by  numerous  strong  ligaments  and  fibrous  tissue  (See 
Figs.  6  and  7).  These  attachments  and  the  nature  of  the 
articulations  of  this  bone  permit  of  a  certain  degree  of  elasti- 
city without  true  joint  motion.  The  foot  articulates  with  the 
bones  of  the  lower  leg,  forming  the  ankle  joint,  through  the 
astragalus.  The  latter  also  forms  the  keystone  of  the  foot 
arch  (See  especially  Figs.  2  and  7),  as  it  is  wedged  between 
the  heel  bone  and  the  scaphoid  bone.  It  is  a  large,  strong 
bone,  with  broad  articulating  surfaces,  in  contact  with  those  of 
the  leg  bones,  which  embrace  it  on  each  side  and  support  the 
entire  weight  with  every  step.  From  its  position  in  the  foot, 
its  direct  ligamentous  attachments  to  other  bones  are  relatively 
weak,  but  it  receives  additional  support  from  the  strong  liga- 
ments attached  to  other  bones  at  the  ends  of  the  foot  arch  by 
which  the  latter  are  held  together  and  prevented  from  spread- 
ing— and  the  astragalus  from  being  thereby  forced  down — 
under  the  body  weight.  (See  Figs.  6  and  7). 

The  front  of  the  foot  arch  is  formed  by  the  five  small 
bones,  viz:  the  scaphoid,  the  cuboid,  and  the  three  cuneiform 
bones,  together  with  the  five  metatarsals.  The  first  five  small 
foot  bones  are  so  closely  articulated  with  each  other  by  irre- 
gular surfaces,  and  are  so  firmly  bound  together  by  numer- 
ous small  liga- 
ments, as  to  form 
a  compact  bony 
mass,  which  is, 
however,  capable  of 
a  certain  limited 
amount  of  yielding 
under  pressure 
which  materially 
assists  in  lessening 
the  shock  to  the  foot 
and  body  which  ac- 
companies each 
step  in  marching. 
(See  Figs.  6  and 


Fig.  5 

dorsal  is  pcdis  artery    middle  cuneifonu  bone 
external  cuneiform 
extensor  brevis  digitor 


cuboid  bon 


i  internal  cunei 
•     form  bone 


1  internal  muscu- 
1     lar  group 


external  muscular  group 

plantar  fascia 


tendons  of  flexors 
middle  muscular  group 


The  Transverse  Arch  of  the  Foot.  Section  through 
the  anterior  row  of  tarsal  bones.  The  line  A  B 
represents  the  surface  upon  which  the  foot  rests  when 
the  individual  stands  erect.  (From  Gray's  Anatomy.) 


The  Soldier  s  Foot  and  the  Military  Shoe  13 

7).  It  will  also  be  seen  (Fig.  5)  that  the  bones  of  this  region 
not  only  form  part  of  an  arch  extending  from  front  to  rear  but 
also  are  so  disposed  among  themselves  as  to  form  a  secondary 
foot  arch  from  side  to  side,  thereby  materially  adding  to  the 
strength  of  the  whole.  Support  to  this  lateral  arch  is  given 
by  ligaments  and  the  tendon  of  one  of  the  leg  muscles. 

From  the  very  slight  amount  of  elasticity  and  extremely 
limited  relaxation  anatomically  possible  as  a  result  of  the  rela- 
tions of  the  seven  round  bones  of  the  foot,  it  is  evident  that  a 
foot  covering  can  logically  be  a  close  fit  back  of  the  tarso — 
metatarsal  joint  without  in  any  way  interfering  with  the  pur- 
pose and  functions  of  the  foot. 

The  five  long  metatarsal  bones  form  the  extreme  front  of 
the  foot  arch.  (See  Figs,  i,  2  and  3,  and  all  radiographs). 
They  are  firmly  held  at  their  posterior  ends  by  ligaments  bind- 
ing them  to  the  round  bones  of  the  foot  (See  Figs.  6  and  7), 
but  the  joints  so  produced  are  more  flexible  than  those  further 
back  in  the  foot  and  permit  of  considerable  motion  downward 
(See  Fig.  3).  But  between  the  shafts  of  these  metatarsals 
there  is  no  ligamentous  union  whatever,  thus  permitting 
marked  spreading  of  these  bones  with  broadening  of  the  foot 
under  pressure  in  the  interests  of  greater  flexibility,  the  pro- 
duction of  broader  surfaces  and  resulting  increased  stability 
in  standing  and  marching.  (See  Fig.  6  and  all  radiographs). 
The  frontal  ends  of  these  metatarsal  bones,  especially  the  ends 
of  the  first  and  fifth  metatarsals,  form  the  front  of  the  foot 
arch  (See  Figs.  2  and  3).  It  will  be  noted  (See  Fig.  2)  that 
the  line  of  junction  of  the  five  metatarsals  with  the  round 
bones  of  the  foot,  which  forms  the  ball,  is  not  square  across 
but  extends  obliquely  from  without  inward.  The  result  of 
this  oblique  articulation,  when  the  foot  is  pointed  to  the 
front,  is  to  naturally  tend  to  throw  the  weight  of  the  body  on 
the  outer  part  of  the  foot,  where  the  structures  are  strongest. 
The  ball  measurement  in  fitting  shoes  is  taken  just  in  front  of 
this  line  of  articulations,  over  the  bony  prominences  at  the 
base  of  the  little  and  of  the  greater  metatarsal  bones. 

This  marked  physiological  capacity  for  spreading  of  the 


The  Soldier's  Foot  and  the  Military  Shoe 


Fig.  6 


metatarsal  bones,  especially  at  their  anterior  ends,  together 
with  that  obviously  possible  in  the  unconnected  toes,  results 
in  a  requirement  that  any  shoe  suitable  for  military  purposes 

shall  be  of  such  form  and  width 
in  its  anterior  part  as  to  allow 
proper  broadening  of  the  foot  in 
its  metatarsal  and  toe  regions  to 
the  extent  naturally  assumed  by 
the  bare  foot  in  standing  and 
walking.  If  this  be  not  done,  the 
foot  is  narrowed,  contact  with 
the  ground  is  decreased,  and 
body  equilibrium  is  impaired.  In 
the  natural  effort  to  preserve  the 
latter  in  too  narrow  shoes,  the 
man  tends  to  turn  his  toes  out, 
thereby  largely  shifting  weight 
from  the  strong  outer  margin  of 
the  foot  so  as  to  fall  over  the 
relatively  weak  inner  arch. 

The  bones  of  the  phalanges 
or  toes  (See  Figs.  I  and  2)  ar- 
ticulate with  their  respective  me- 
tatarsals,  and  with  each  other, 
in  the  production  of  joints  in- 
tended to  have  a  large  degree  of 
upward  and  downward  mobility. 
This  mobility  of  the  toes  is  naturally  greater  than  that  of  the 
fingers  of  the  hand,  with  all  the  delicacy  of  use  required  of  the 
latter,  yet  it  is  completely  lost  sight  of  by  the  average  shoe 
manufacturer.  Under  pressure  and  confinement  from  ill  fit- 
ting shoes,  these  highly  mobile  joints  may  largely  or  complete- 
ly lose  their  function  and  the  toes  their  use.  Nearly  all  the 
muscles  of  the  foot  have  their  anterior  attachments  to  the 
phalangeal  bones  or  metatarsals,  and  contraction  of  these  mus- 
cles causes  the  toe  to  press  against  the  ground  while  lifting  the 
body,  near  the  end  of  the  step,  by  pulling  the  ends  of  the  foot 


Ligaments  of  sole  of  foot. 
Gray's    Anatomy.) 


(From 


The  Soldier's  Foot  and  the  Military  Shoe  15 

arch  nearer  together  and  thereby  increasing  its  concavity  down- 
ward. 

The  resting  position  of  the  weight  bearing  foot  is  main- 
tained by  the  ligaments,   which  are  not  elastic  and   are  not 
Fig  7  overstretched  in  the  normal 

foot.  These  ligaments 
bind  the  bones  of  the  foot 
together.  They  hold  up  the 
foot  arch  only  in  the  sense 
that  they  interfere  at  a  cer- 
tain point  to  prevent  fur- 
ther spreading  and  flatten- 

Anteroposterior    arch:     1,     Short    plantar        .  r     ,        .  , 

ligament;  2,  long  plantar  ligament;  3,  plan-        ing  of  the  foot  arch  as  a  re- 
tar  fascia.  1.       <•    j  1 

suit  of  downward  pressure. 

The  manner  in  which  the  bones  of  the  foot  are  bound  to- 
gether by  these  ligaments,  which  are  the  strongest  of  those  in 
the  body,  is  well  shown  in  Figs.  6  and  7.  These  ligaments 
are  tough,  fibrous  and  inelastic,  and  are  not  intended  to  give 
much  play  to  the  parts  they  hold  together.  It  will  be  observed 
that  while  these  ligaments  are  numerous  and  run  in  all  direc- 
tions, by  far  the  strongest  ones — and  those  which  naturally 
have  to  stand  the  greatest  strain — are  those  which  extend 
from  front  to  rear  of  the  foot  arch.  It  will  also  be  observed 
that  while  the  sole  of  the  foot  is  strongly  bound  together  by 
ligaments,  the  latter  are  practically  absent  (See  Figs.  3  and  6) 
on  the  upper  part  of  the  foot.  The  practical  result  of  this  loca- 
tion and  arrangement  of  ligaments  is  that  the  natural  tendency 
of  the  arch  to  flatten  under  pressure  is  checked  at  a  certain 
point ;  while  the  absence  of  ligaments  from  the  upper  part  of  the 
foot  permits  of  its  flexion  downward,  with  raising  of  the 
foot  arch  and  a  shortening  of  the  distance  between  the  heel 
bone  and  the  metatarsals  as  the  result  of  muscular  contrac- 
tion in  walking.  The  relaxation  or  giving  way  of  these  liga- 
ments is  necessary  in  order  that  flat  foot  may  occur. 

But  the  passive  resistance  to  pressure  offered  by  the  liga- 
ments of  the  sole  of  the  foot  is  not  of  itself  sufficient  to  pre- 
vent flattening  of  the  arch.  Inelastic  structures  will  ulti- 


i6 


The  Soldier's  Foot  and  the  Military  Shoe 


Fig.  8 


mately  tend  to  yield  to  excessive  pressure  which  is  sufficiently 
long  continued.    To  provide  against  this,  nature  has  reinforced 

these  ligaments  with  an  array  of 
foot  muscles,  whose  elastic  contrac- 
tions in  producing  locomotion  also 
serve  to  take  up  a  large  part  of  the 
tension  due  to  body  weight  which 
would  otherwise  fall  directly  on  the 
ligaments.  The  intricate  relations 
of  these  muscles  to  bones,  ligaments 
and  each  other  is  clearly  brought 
out  in  Figs.  8,  9,  10,  u  and  12.  It 
will  be  observed  from  Fig.  3  that 
the  muscles  of  the  upper  part  of 
the  foot,  which  are  chiefly  con- 
cerned in  the  slight  labor  of  lifting 
the  toes  and  fore  foot,  are  few  in 
number  and  of  very  slight  develop- 
ment. However,  one  muscle  of  the 
leg — the  tibialis  anticus — has  its  at- 
tachment (See  Fig.  2)  on  the  under 
part  of  the  foot  arch,  and  by  its 
contraction  operates  to  heighten  and 
hold  up  the  latter.  The  muscles  of 
the  sole  of  the  foot,  on  the  con- 
trary, are  numerous  and  should  be 
well  developed  and  strong.  Not 
only  do  they  exert  necessary  ten- 
sion, but  they  cushion  the  more  del- 
icate part  of  the  foot  and  serve  to 
protect  it  against  injury.  It  will  be 
observed  from  Figs.  8  to  12  inclusive,  that  there  are  no  less 
than  five  distinct  layers  of  muscles  of  the  foot,  practically  all 
of  which — except  the  transversalis  muscles  (See  Fig.  10) — 
extend  from  the  rear  of  the  foot  to  its  front.  The  outer  or  first 
layer  of  sole  muscles  (See  Fig.  8)  practically  runs  from  the 
heel  to  the  tips  of  the  toes,  their  contraction  resulting  in  flex- 


Muscles  of  the  Sole  of  the 
Foot,  first  layer.  (From  Gray's 
Anatomy.) 


The  Soldier  s  Foot  and  the  Military  Shoe 


ion  of  the  foot  and  toes  between  these  two  points.  The  second 
layer  of  muscles  (See  Fig.  9)  runs  from  the  heel  to  the  base 
of  the  toes,  reinforced  by  the  Fig  9 

tendons  of  certain  muscles  of      

the  calf  of  the  leg.  The  third 
layer  of  muscles  (See  Fig. 
10)  strengthens  the  metatar- 
sal  region  and  adds  additional 
force  to  the  thrust  of  the  ball 
of  the  foot  against  the  ground 
in  walking.  The  fourth  and 
fifth  layers  of  muscles,  (See 
Figs,  ii  and  12)  with  one 
group  of  the  third,  simply 
serve  to  prevent  too  great 
expansion  outward  of  the 
smaller  metatarsal  bones  in 
marching  and  assist  in  main- 
taining the  balance  of  the 
body.  The  contraction  of  all 
these  muscles  flexes  the  sole, 
adducts  the  foot  and  forces 
the  arch  to  rise.  A  buffer  is 
thus  formed  which  breaks  the 
shock  of  impact  of  the  ball  of 
the  foot  against  the  ground. 

The  tendons  of  muscles 
operating  on  the  sole  of  the 
foot  are  well  protected  and  are 
not  liable  to  incur  injury.  Those  on  the  top  of  the  foot,  and 
particularly  the  one  lifting  the  great  toe,  are  superficial,  are 
thinly  covered  with  soft  tissue,  and  lie  directly  over  bones 
against  which  they  may  be  pressed  by  too  tight  shoes,  with 
resulting  injury  and  inflammation  of  the  tendons  and  fibrous 
sheaths  in  which  they  work. 

Arteries,  veins  and  nerves  are  of  less  practical  importance 
in  a  study  of  the  anatomy  of  the  foot  in  relation  to  the  shoe. 


Muscles  of  the  Sole  of  the  Foot,  sec- 
ond   layer.       (From    Gray's    Anatomy.) 


i8 


The  Soldier's  Foot  and  the  Military  Shoe 


Fig.  10 


The  arterial  system  lies  fairly  deeply  between  muscles  and 
tendons,  and  pressure  sufficient  to  materially  affect  it  would 
cause  such  immediate  discomfort  as  to  bring  about  prompt 

remedy.  The  same  applies  to 
the  nervous  system.  The  veins, 
however,  lie  more  superficially 
and  may  be  pressed  upon,  par- 
ticularly by  shoes  too  tight 
around  the  ankle,  sufficiently  to 
cause  more  or  less  interference 
of  the  return  flow  of  the  blood 
with  swelling  of  the  foot  below 
the  point  of  compression. 

Examination  of  normal  foot 
prints  shows  (See  Figs  13,  14 
and  15),  as  might  be  expected, 
that  with  increased  pressure 
upon  the  foot  there  come  into 
play  accessory  bearing  surfaces 
on  its  sole.  This  is  particularly 
evident  in  the  appearance  and 
increase  in  size  of  the  inked 
spot,  representing  the  second 
phalanx  of  the  great  toe,  which 
is  absent  on  the  first  of  the 
above  mentioned  prints,  made 
by  the  weight  of  the  leg  on  the 
foot;  in  the  second,  partially 
fills  the  space  between  the  balls 

Muscles  of  the  Sole  of  the  Foot,  third    of    the    foot    and    tOC    when    the 

man    marches    under   his   own 

weight ;  and  in  the  third  almost  completely  fills  this  space  when 
the  man  carries  the  military  burden.  The  general  broadening 
and  lengthening  of  the  foot  under  these  diverse  conditions  of 
weight  support  is  also  apparent.  These  facts  are  important, 
since  when  troops  are  put  into  heavy  marching  order  under 
burden,  they  bring  into  operation  bearing  areas  of  the  feet 


The  Soldier's  Foot  and  the  Military  Shoe  19 

Fig.  13 


A  normal  foot  print,  taken  with  the   soldier   sitting.      (Reduced.) 


2O  The  Soldier's  Foot  and  the  Military  Shoe 

Fig.  14 


Foot  print  of  the  same  foot  shown  in  Fig.   13,  but  with  the  soldier  walking  with- 
out burden.     (Reduced.) 


The  Soldier's  Foot  and  the  Military  Shoe 

Fig.  15 


21 


Foot  print  of  the  same  foot  shown  in  Figs.  13  and  14,  but  with  soldier  walking 
with  a  40  Ib.  burden  on  his  back.  Compare  with  Figs.  13  and  14  to  note  increase 
in  length  and  breadth.  (Reduced.) 


22  The  Soldier's  Foot  and  the  Military  Shoe 

which  have  heretofore  been  largely  unused  and  have  thereby 
been  protected  against  friction  and  pressure.  Such  areas  are 
covered  with  relatively  soft,  thin  skin  and  may  be  extremely 
sensitive  at  the  outset  of  a  march;  but  upon  continuance  of 
the  march  they  should  become  hardened  and  play  their  part 
equally  with  other  more  toughened  areas  in  supporting  the  sol- 
dier and  his  burden.  Injury  of  such  accessory  bearing  sur- 
faces is  quite  common  among  soldiers  at  the  outset  of  a  march. 
It  is  clear  from  a  summary  of  the  anatomical  features  of 
the  bones,  ligaments  and  muscles  of  the  foot,  that  its  most  im- 
portant part  relates  to  the  foot  arch.  The  latter  is  a  develop- 
ment in  man  to  facilitate  his  characteristic  walking  in  the  up- 
right position.  Flat  footed  apes  can  walk  no  great  distance 
in  the  upright  position,  and  then  only  with  the  additional  sup- 
port of  the  arms.  Flat  footed  men  are  notoriously  unable  to 
march.  The  foot  arch  has  been  shown  not  to  be  rigid,  but 
to  be  a  loose  structure  the  bones  of  which  wedge  and  tighten 
against  each  other  under  pressure  from  above  and  opposed  by 
tension  from  below.  The  resulting  arch  is  then  not  what  en- 
gineers call  a  solid  "segmental  arch",  but  rather  a  "bowstring 
arch"  in  which  the  center  is  held  up  by  tension  on  its  ends. 
This  "bowstring"  effect  of  the  muscles  is  greatest  at  the  end 
of  the  step.  If  the  pressure  from  above  is  greater  than  the 
tension  exerted  by  the  elastic  muscles  below,  the  excess  pres- 
sure falls  directly  on  the  ligaments  of  the  foot.  If  this  excess 
pressure  be  long  continued,  the  ligaments  will  stretch  to  a 
greater  or  less  degree  and  the  foot  arch  fall  in  proportion. 
But  another  factor,  so  well  illustrated  in  Fig.  3,  also  has  to  be 
taken  into  consideration,  and  that  is  the  size  of  the  muscles  lo- 
cated within  the  foot  arch.  With  development  of  these  muscles 
comes  increase  not  only  in  their  strength  but  in  their  bulk — 
and  the  larger  bellies  of  these  muscles,  by  more  completely 
filling  up  the  foot  arch,  mechanically  hold  up  and  buttress  the 
latter  against  falling.  Since  muscles  increase  in  the  transverse 
diameter  of  their  bellies  on  contraction — and  as  these  foot  mus- 
cles practically  all  run  longitudinally — it  becomes  evident  that 
the  contraction  of  these  muscles  necessary  to  accomplish  walk- 


The  Soldier  s  Foot  and  the  Military  Shoe 


ing  will  at  the  same  time  serve  not  only  to  pull  the  ends  of  the 
foot  arch  together  but  to  push  up  and  support  its  sides  and 
center.  Too  much  importance  therefore  can  not  be  placed  in 
developing  the  foot  muscles  in  preventing  foot  weakness,  and 
such  development  is  only  brought  about  through  their  use, 
which  in  turn  is  only  possible  through  proper  foot-wear  per- 
mitting of  full  function  of  the  foot  and  the  appropriate  mus- 
cular action  on  which  such  function  depends. 

Fig.  11  Fig.  12 


Muscles  of  the  sole  of  the 
foot,  fourth  (plantar  interos- 
seous)  layer.  (From  Gray's 
Anatomy.) 


Muscles  of  the  sole  of  the 
foot,  fifth  (interosseous)  layer. 
(From  Gray's  Anatomy.) 


Muscle  tension  and  balance  thus  maintain  the  foot  arch 
in  its  proper  curvature.  Where  this  is  lost,  the  arch  tends  to 
flatten,  with  or  without  associated  pain.  But  a  foot  of  a  type 
normally  presenting  a  low  arch  may  be  quite  as  serviceable 
as  if  it  were  higher,  since  the  muscle  groups  maintaining  its 
integrity  are  satisfactorily  performing  all  the  work  which 
is  demanded  of  them.  In  stout,  muscular  feet  the  sole  of  the 
arch  approaches  nearer  the  ground  than  in  unrelaxed  arches 
with  little  muscular  development;  the  difference  is  that  with 


24  The  Soldiers  Foot  and  the  Military  Shoe 

further  loading  of  the  individual  with  a  burden,  such  as  the 
military  equipment,  the  first  described  arch  remains  about  the 
same  while  the  latter  readily  tends  to  break  down. 

Weakening  of  the  foot  muscles  is  one  of  the  penalties  of 
civilization,  as  walking  is  less  and  less  a  factor  in  locomotion, 
while  primitive  out-door  peoples  are  more  or  less  nomadic 
and  their  occupations  are  not  sedentary.  The  introduction  of 
railroads,  street  cars  and  automobiles,  has  materially  interfered 
with  foot  development  in  many.  And  with  lesser  need  for  the 
use  of  the  foot  in  walking,  came  the  introduction  of  deforming 
and  confining  shoe  types,  by  which  the  use  of  certain  foot  mus- 
cles was  interfered  with  and  their  consequent  atrophy  and 
weakening  was  inevitable. 

From  consideration  of  the  anatomy  of  the  foot  as  a  whole, 
it  thus  appears  that  the  various  structures  of  the  foot  form  a 
whole  which  is  both  strong  and  supple ;  supple  in  the  forward 
part  and  strong  and  massive  in  the  hinder  part.  These  points 
must  not  be  forgotten,  as  they  exert  a  controlling  influence  on 
the  nature  and  shape  of  military  footwear  which  must  be  pro- 
vided for  the  soldier  if  he  is  to  have  a  maximum  ability  for 
marching. 

The  perfect,  unde formed  foot  is  found  practically  only 
in  children  and  among  savage,  non-shoe  wearing  peoples.  See 
Figs.  1 6,  17,  1 8  and  19,  in  which  the  God  of  the  famous  Greek 
sculptor,  the  American  child,  and  the  head  hunters  of  the 
Philippines  present  approximately  the  same  foot  type.  As  far 
as  soldiers  are  concerned,  the  undeformed  foot  is  a  figment  of 
the  imagination ;  yet  extreme  cases  of  foot  deformity,  such  as 
are  common  in  civil  life,  are  kept  from  admission  to  the  mili- 
tary class  through  the  requirements  of  the  recruiting  officer. 
However,  in  the  great  number  of  soldiers'  feet  examined  by 
the  Shoe  Board,  practically  not  one  was  free  from  some  appre- 
ciable deformity  or  blemish.  The  production  of  foot  injury 
begins  early,  and  conditions  become  more  serious,  exaggerated 
and  give  less  prospect  of  recovery  with  the  passage  of  time. 
The  condition  is  not  so  much  produced  by  the  mere  fact  of 
wearing  shoes,  as  by  the  wearing  of  individual  sets  of  shoes 


The  Soldiers  Foot  and  the  Military  Shoe  25 

Fig.  16 


Foot  of  the  "Flying  Hermes"   of  Praxityles.      Imprint  of  sandal  strap,  here  not 
shown,  appears   on  the  foot.      (From  Weed.) 


26  The  Soldier's  Foot  and  the  Military  Shoe 

Fig.  17 


Feet  of  a  four  year  old  American  child,  undeformed  by  shoe  wearing. 


Fig.  18 


Feet  same  as  those   of   Figure   17. 


The  Soldier's  Foot  and  the  Military  Shoe 


27 


28 


The  Soldier's  Foot  and  the  Military  Shoe 


which  do  not  fit.  All  shoes  are  not  necessarily  harmful  to  the 
feet,  but  careful  attention  to  the  character  of  the  shoe  and  its 
subsequent  appropriate  fitting  are  both  requisite  in  the  avoid- 
ance of  danger  from  this  source. 

The  artificial  results  of  deforming  footwear,  as  seen  for 
example  in  hallux  valgus,  are  so  common  as  to  be  accepted  by 
many  as  the  handiwork  of  nature.  It  is  probable  that  a  number 
of  soldiers  who  regard  the  shoes  issued  by  the  government  as 
"too  broad",  unconsciously  express  this  erroneous  idea. 

It  is  quite  apparent  from  the  foregoing  that  the  foot  is 
not  at  all  the  rigid  structure  popularly  supposed,  to  be  care- 
lessly jammed  into  any  sort  of  container,  irrespective  of  the 
size,  shape,  and  character  of  the  latter.  On  the  contrary,  it  is 
seen  to  be  a  highly  developed  member  of  complex  formation 
and  intricate  function,  every  factor  of  which  needs  thoughtful 
consideration  in  determining  its  proper  covering. 

Fig.  20 


Military  or  Straight-leg  Marching.      (After  Bradford.) 

Having  determined  the  anatomy  of  the  foot,  we  may  next 
briefly  consider  how  the  latter  is  used  in  marching  (See  Fig. 
20).  Shoes  have  their  effect  upon  gait,  and  the  shod  man 
does  not  walk  in  the  same  manner  as  an  unshod  one. 


The  Soldier's  Foot  and  the  Military  Shoe  29 

Starting  from  a  position,  say,  in  which  the  sole  of  the  right 
foot  rests  squarely  on  the  ground  and  is  practically  supporting 
the  entire  body  weight,  the  rear  or  left  foot  is  just  about  to 
leave  the  ground  against  which  its  toes  are  pressed  strongly  by 
their  flexor  tendons.  These  toes  are  spread  out  and  assist  in 
maintaining  equilibrium  of  the  body,  their  bases  are  raised  off 
the  ground,  and  further  contraction  of  their  muscles  causes 
the  foot  to  rise  until  their  tips  rest  against  the  ground  and 
give  a  final  push  which  sends  the  body  further  forward  and 
destroys  its  equilibrium.  This  push  need  not  be  great,  as  the 
weight  is  now  practically  all  supported  by  the  right  foot  and 
balance  is  easily  lost.  To  execute  the  last  movement  prop- 
erly, it  is  clear  that  the  shoe  should  be  broad  to  allow  for  ex- 
pansion, and  its  shape  such  that  the  great  toe  can  stretch  itself 
out  directly  forward  in  continuation  of  the  long  axis  of  the 
first  metatarsal. 

As  this  left  foot  leaves  the  ground  the  force  of  gravity, 
acting  as  a  result  of  the  loss  of  equilibrium  in  a  forward  direc- 
tion, causes  it  to  swing  outward  and  brings  it  forward  to  a 
position  under  or  slightly  in  front  of  the  body  without  muscular 
exertion.  From  this  point  the  leg  is  advanced  through  the 
distance  required  for  the  next  step  by  the  action  of  the  extensor 
muscles  and  the  straightening  of  the  limb.  At  the  same  time 
the  toes  and  front  of  the  foot  are  pulled  up  by  the  muscles  of 
the  front  of  the  leg.  As  the  left  foot  strikes  the  ground,  the 
body  equilibrium  temporarily  lost  is  regained  again  through  its 
support. 

The  heel  strikes  the  ground  first,  with  the  toes  pointed 
upward.  The  ankle  joint  is  held  firmly  by  the  action  of  the  mus- 
cular groups;  the  latter  yielding  as  the  center  of  gravity  is 
advanced,  and  as  more  and  more  weight  is  thrown  on  this  foot 
by  propulsion  from  the  right  foot.  The  heel  thus  forms  a 
fixed  point  with  the  ground,  above  which  the  body  swings  in  a 
limited  arc — the  heel  itself  rotating  until  the  toes  are  lowered 
and  the  foot  rests  squarely  on  the  ground.  In  this  last  posi- 
tion the  left  foot  is  practically  supporting  all  the  body  weight, 
which  has  now  been  transferred  to  it  from  the  right  foot. 


The  Soldier's  Foot  and  the  Military  Shoe 


The  three  chief  points  of  support  of  the  left  foot  are  now 
the  heel,  and  the  heads  of  the  first  and  fifth  metatarsal  bones. 
As  in  standing  the  foot  arch  bends  slightly  through  its  articu- 
lations yielding  under  the  weight  of  the  body  and  resumes  its 
natural  curve  as  soon  as  the  foot  is  raised,  so  too  this  same 
limited  joint  motion  of  the  arch  occurs  with  every  step  in 
marching. 

Fig.  21 


Flexion   or   Bent-knee   Marching.      (After   Bradford.) 

At  this  point,  action  of  the  muscles  of  the  calf  of  the  leg 
begins,  supplements  propulsion  of  the  body  from  the  right  foot 
and  lifts  the  left  heel  off  the  ground.  In  this  position  the  point 
of  support  for  the  arch,  and  through  it  for  the  body  weight,  is 
in  its  anterior  portion  where  the  metatarsal  bones  rest  upon 
the  ground;  the  point  of  resistance,  furnished  by  the  ground 
and  body  weight,  is  on  a  level  with  the  joint  of  the  instep; 


The  Soldier's  Foot  and  the  Military  Shoe 


and  the  force  is  being  applied  to  the  heel  bone,  through  the 
calf  muscles. 

In  this  position  the  body  weight  is  being  supported  by  the 
ball  of  the  left  foot,  and  is  steadied  and  propelled  forward  by 
muscular  action  exerted  through  the  right  foot. 

In  the  next  stage,  the  intrinsic  muscles  of  the  sole  of  the 
left  foot  contract  strongly  to  supplement  the  ligaments  of  the 
sole  in  preserving  the  foot  arch,  now  under  its  maximum 
strain.  At  this  point  the  toes  leave  the  ground,  the  step  is  com- 
pleted and  a  new  cycle  of  foot  and  leg  movement,  as  has 
just  been  described,  begins.  In  the  meantime  the  shoulders 
have  been  kept  straight  and  the  head  and  body  are  held  erect. 
The  knees  are  slightly  flexed ;  while  the  free  arm  is  allowed 
to  swing  naturally  to  better  maintain  the  balance.  This  method 
of  marching  is  not  that  voluntarily  employed  by  the  individual, 
who,  when  tired  or  not  under  restraint,  tends  to  fall  into  the 
attitude  and  step  of  the  flexion  march  (See  Fig.  21)  habitual 
to  the  bare  footed  races.  In  this  latter  step,  the  influence  of 
gravity  is  greater  and  muscular  effort  less 
in  moving  the  body  forward,  as  the  latter 
precedes  rather  than  follows  the  advanc- 
ing foot.  The  latter  also  strikes  the  ground 
more  on  the  sole  than  the  heel,  and  other 
differences  in  the  step  are  apparent  in 
comparison  of  the  two  illustrations. 

In  the  ordinary  step  in  marching,  the 
toes  should  be  directed  well  forward  so 
that  the  thrust  back  in  the  foot,  and  es- 
pecially in  the  great  toe,  shall  be  in  the 
direction  of  its  length  rather  than  to  a 
certain  extent  across  it — since  muscular 
action  of  the  great  toe  is  a  potent  agent  in 
the  propulsion  of  the  body  forward.  (See 

Illustrating  the  invol-       -p-  \ 

untary  adduction  of  the       &*§•  22  J. 
fore-foot,     due     to     the  Tr  t  •          1          i  •  1 

obliquity  of  the  bearing  If  marching  be  done  with  an  everted 

surface   of  the  metatar-        r  ,r.      1  ,1       i      j  1  i        ,1 

sus,  in  the  proper  atti-     foot,  the  less  the  body  is  supported  by  the 

tude    for    walkingman)         ^^   ^^    portjon    Qf    the    foQt    and    the 


Fig.  22 


32  The  Soldier's  Foot  and  the  Military  Shoe 

more  the  body  weight  is  thrown  upon  the  Fi»- 23 

weak  inner  portion  of  the  foot  arch,  not 
intended  to  support  it.  (See  Fig.  23). 
In  standing,  moderate  eversion  of  the 
feet  better  preserves  equilibrium  of  the 
body  by  offering  a  broader  basis  of  sup- 
port— but  in  marching  this  is  scarcely 
necessary,  as  with  the  rapid  alteration 
of  position  the  equilibrium  lost  at  one 
step  is  instinctively  regained  at  the  next 
by  alteration  of  balance  or  slight  change 
of  direction,  as  is  the  case  in  bicycle  rid- 
ing. Infantry  Drill  Regulations  prescribe 
for  the  position  of  "attention"  that  the 
feet  should  be  turned  out  at  an  angle  of 
45° ;  but  they  make  no  mention  as  to  the 
degree  of  eversion  to  be  had  in  marching.  If  the  toes  are  not 
deviated  outward  more  than  25°,  the  weight  begins  to  be 
thrown  on  the  outer  strong  arch.  Long  standing  is  worse  on 
the  feet  than  marching,  as  there  are  no  alternate  periods  of 
rest  for  the  tired  and  relaxed  muscles  as  is  the  case  in  walk- 


Fig.  24 


The  improper  attitude 
of  outward  rotation,  in 
which  there  is  disuse  of 
the  leverage  function  in 
standing  and  walking. 

(Whatman.) 


Positions  of  the  Extremities   of  the   Soldier  During  "Double  Time."     Photographs 
taken  at  the  rate  of  sixty  per  second.      (After  Marey.) 


The  Soldier's  Foot  and  the  Military  Shoe  33 

ing.  But  care  should  be  taken  that  the  men  should  not  be  en- 
couraged to  walk  "splay-footed",  and  any  previous  tendency 
that  way  should  be  rectified. 

In  marching  in  double  time,  the  gait  is  quite  different  from 
that  in  ordinary  marching  (See  Fig.  24).  Here  all  the  work 
is  done  by  the  ball  and  toes,  the  foot  arch  is  under  strong 
tension,  and  the  heel  only  slightly  touches  the  ground  in  pre- 
serving the  balance.  Running  in  narrow,  pointed  shoes  at 
great  speed,  or  for  any  considerable  distance,  is  thus  anatomi- 
cally impossible. 


34  The  Soldier's  Foot  and  the  Military  Shoe 


CHAPTER  III. 
THE  MILITARY  SHOE. 

All  military  authorities  agree  that  a  proper  shoe  for  sol- 
diers is  a  fundamental  necessity  in  the  accomplishment  of 
military  purposes.  Marshal  Niel  stated  that  shoes  for  his 
infantry  were  of  equal  importance  with  mounts  for  his  caval- 
ry; while  Wellington  enumerated  the  three  most  essential 
parts  of  the  soldier's  outfit  as  a  pair  of  good  shoes,  a  second 
pair  of  good  shoes,  and  a  pair  of  half  soles.  And  Marshal 
Bugeaud  said:  "Perhaps  the  two  greatest  problems  of  war 
are  to  find  harness  that  will  not  injure  horses  and  foot  cover- 
ings that  will  not  injure  men." 

There  can  be  no  question  but  that  of  all  the  protective 
coverings  which  the  foot  soldier  wears,  his  shoes  are  by  far 
the  most  important  from  a  strategic  standpoint;  since  upon 
their  shape,  durability,  use  and  comfort  of  fit,  pliancy  and  light- 
ness depends  his  military  efficiency.  Next  to  his  armament, 
the  shoe  is  probably  the  most  important  item  of  the  equipment 
of  the  soldier. 

The  construction  of  shoes  for  civilians  is  influenced  almost 
wholly  by  considerations  of  fashion  and  style.  These  are  irra- 
tional and  are  changed  frequently  in  the  financial  interest  of 
the  shoe  trade.  The  lasts  are  devised  by  persons  grossly  ignor- 
ant of,  and  quite  indifferent  to,  the  structure  of  the  human 
foot  and  its  physiological  requirements  as  to  covering.  Shoes 
built  upon  them  range  through  every  degree  of  the  bizarre  and 
represent  the  most  amazing  conceptions  of  their  originators  as 
to  the  diverse  shapes  which  the  human  foot  should  be  forced 
to  assume. 

It  is  rare  to  find  in  -civil  life  a  shoe  that  even  approaches 
the  normal  foot  in  shape  and  contour.  Few  manufacturers 
make  them,  as  they  are  not  salable  to  the  general  public, 
whose  choice  is  swayed  rather  by  considerations  of  fashion 


The  Soldier  s  Foot  and  the  Military  Shoe  35 

than  comfort.  For  this  reason,  even  the  socalled  orthopedic 
lasts  do  not  accurately  follow  normal  foot  outlines  under 
expansion  but  make  certain  concessions,  as  to  narrowness  and 
other  matters,  to  popular  ideas  as  to  sightliness.  Only  in  the 
case  of  the  rare  individual,  who  has  from  early  life  the  sense 
and  money  to  have  his  shoes  built  to  order  over  plaster  casts 
of  his  own  foot,  will  suitably  shaped  and  properly  fitting  shoes 
be  found.  The  idea  apparently  dominating  the  construction  of 
nearly  all  civilian  shoes  is  that  it  is  far  better  that  foot  wear 
should  be  novel  in  appearance  rather  than  that  it  should  be 
sensible  in  shape.  A  glance  into  the  display  window  of  the 
average  shoe  store  will  habitually  show  scores  of  varieties  of 
shoes  for  adult  males,  of  widely  different  appearance,  not 
one  of  which  even  approaches  correctness  from  an  anatomical 
standpoint.  Only  for  very  young  children  can  reasonably 
correct  shoes  be  found.  The  reason  for  this  is  two  fold.  The 
shoe  trade  considers  itself  free  from  blame,  as  it  is  frankly 
in  the  business  for  profit,  and  is  interested  in  giving  the  public 
what  the  latter  thinks  it  wants.  But  this  is  only  a  half  truth, 
for  the  nature  of  the  foot  wear  which  the  shoe  manufacturers 
themselves  put  out  largely  determines  the  public  state  of  mind 
in  this  respect.  On  the  other  hand,  all  but  a  very  few  civilians 
are  so  influenced  by  the  subtle  suggestive  influence  of  manu- 
facturers' styles  as  largely  to  disregard  matters  of  fit,  shape 
and  comfort,  and  tend  to  buy  the  enormities  which  the  shoe 
manufacturers  think  it  to  be  to  their  interest  to  put  on  the 
market.  The  very  few  who,  despite  such  influences,  would 
tend  to  prefer  sensible  shoes,  receive  little  encouragement  and 
frequently  are  quite  unable  to  find  in  stock  what  they  would 
like  to  purchase.  A  vicious  circle  is  thus  created,  under  which 
civilian  shoe  manufacturers  and  shoe  wearers  seem  to  vie  with 
each  other  in  injuring  the  feet.  Add  to  this  the  firm  resolve  of 
nearly  every  civilian  to  crowd  the  foot  into  the  narrowest  and 
shortest  shoe  that  it  can  be  forced  into  without  severe  suf- 
fering, and  the  evil  results  to  the  foot  are  tremendously  in- 
creased. The  result  is  that  practically  every  soldier  in  the 
army  has  had  his  feet  more  or  less  injured  by  the  shoes  he 


36  The  Soldier's  Foot  and  the  Military  Shoe 


Fig.  25 


Foot   of   an   officer   bearing   his   weight   on   his   naked   foot. 


The  Soldier  s  Foot  and  the  Military  Shoe  37 

Fig.  26 


Same  foot  shown  in  Fig.  25  and  under  same  body  pressure,  but  in  the  civilian 
shoe  which  the  officer  wore  on  dress  occasions.  The  foot  is  compressed  over 
three  quarters  of  an  inch  across  the  ball.  (Reduction  in  size  same  as  in  Fig.  25). 


.38  The  Soldier's  Foot  and  the  Military  Shoe 

wore  before  entering  the  service ;  and  that  bad  feet,  especially 
in  city  bred  applicants,  have  come  to  be  one  of  the  chief 
causes  for  rejection  for  enlistment.  The  subject  of  civilian 
footwear  is  in  itself  an  interesting  and  extensive  study,  but 
has  no  special  connection  with  the  present  matter  as  it  is  beyond 
military  jurisdiction  and  control.  It  is  sufficient  to  say  that 
the  civilian  shoe  last,  of  whatever  its  special  form  or  type,  is 
habitually  much  narrower  than  the  foot  it  is  intended  to  rep- 
resent, and  that  the  vast  majority  of  them  are  so  shaped  that 
the  toes  will  be  cramped  together  and  bent  out  of  their  normal 
alignment.  Illustrations  of  the  foot  before  and  after  being 
crowded  into  such  civilian  shoes  are  given  in  Fig.  25  and  26. 
Also  in  Fig.  27,  which  well  illustrates  the  abnormal  shape  into 
which  the  common  style  of  civilian  shoe  compresses  the  foot. 

But  because  such  conditions  as  to  foot-deforming  shoes 
exist  in  civil  life  is  no  warrant  for  their  continuance  in  the 
military  service.  The  recruit,  on  enlistment,  ceases  to  be  a 
free  agent  and  must  wear  as  part  of  the  uniform  such  foot- 
wear as  the  Government  may,  for  its  own  interests,  provide. 
The  latter,  also,  can  compel  its  contracting  shoe  manufacturers 
to  supply  shoes  of  specified  shape,  character  and  material.  The 
whole  shoe  problem  at  once  becomes  simplified  and  thus  be- 
comes one  merely  of  official  jurisdiction  and  control — to  be 
handled  not  according  to  individual  whim  or  present  fashion, 
but  for  the  best  advantage  of  the  military  service  as  a  whole. 
Largely  successful  effort  through  supply  of  proper  footwear 
to  remove  the  foot  blemishes  incurred  through  mistakes  made 
prior  to  enlistment,  and  to  prevent  the  development  of  new 
ones,  can  be  made  immediately  after  entrance  of  the  recruit  in- 
to the  military  service.  Nothing  stands  in  the  way  of  its  effi- 
cient application  except  a  too  general  lack  of  proper  knowl- 
edge and  interest  in  the  subject,  failure  to  appreciate  the  magni- 
tude of  its  practical  military  importance,  and  the  necessity  of 
combatting  erroneous  preconceptions  in  the  matter  of  shoe 
style  and  shoe  fit  on  the  part  of  not  only  of  the  recruit  himself 
but  too  frequently  in  his  company  commander.  Ignorance,  in- 
difference and  passive  opposition  can  do  much  to  neutralize  the 


The  Soldier  s  Foot  and  the  Military  Shoe  39 

best  efforts  in  respect  to  improvement,  and  the  special  infor- 
mation required  for  their  removal  it  is  the  purpose  of  this 
work  to  supply. 

Good  marching  depends  in  its  first  cause  upon  a  good  shoe, 
so  shaped  and  adapted  to  the  foot  as  not  to  compress  it,  nor  to 
unduly  interfere  with  muscular  action,  nor  to  cause  corns,  bun- 
ions, ingrowing  nails  and  other  defects.  No  amount  of  liberali- 
ty in  the  matter  of  supply,  or  the  most  scrupulous  care  in  en- 
deavoring to  secure  a  fitting,  can  compensate  for  structural  de- 
fect in  a  shoe  supplied  to  troops.  Given  an  inelastic  container  of 
bad  shape,  and  the  yielding  tissues  enclosed  therein  will  be 
forced  by  pressure  to  assume  a  new,  improper,  and  weaker 
foot  form. 

To  meet  the  needs  of  the  military  service  a  special  military 
shoe  is  required.  No  civilian  shoe  is  adapted  to  the  purpose. 
Civilian  lasts  as  a  whole  are  necessarily  based  in  a  general 
way  upon  the  average  civilian  physical  type  engaged  in  var- 
ious vocations  of  the  average  degree  of  civilian  strenuosity. 
And  in  civil  life,  as  already  mentioned,  average  conditions  tend 
materially  to  be  against,  rather  than  for,  foot  development. 
But  the  soldier  at  the  very  outset  represents  the  physically 
elect  of  the  class  from  which  he  comes  and  is  better  in  this 
respect  than  its  average;  moreover,  all  his  parts,  including  the 
feet,  undergo  development  in  strength  and  size  under  the  active 
life,  weight-carrying  and  systematized  exercise  which  it  falls 
upon  him  to  perform  after  enlistment.  That  there  is  such  a 
thing  as  a  general  military  foot  type,  distinct  from  the  average 
civilian  foot,  resulting  from  military  conditions  and  training — 
just  as  civilian  employments,  as  piano  playing,  shoe  making 
and  other  callings  bring  about  marked  characteristic  develop- 
ment of  the  hand — was  advanced  by  the  writer  some  years  ago 
and  later  confirmed  by  the  Shoe  Board.  To  properly  meet  the 
special  needs  of  the  soldier,  it  thus  became  necessary  to  dis- 
card civilian  lasts  as  not  representing  military  foot  types,  re- 
move the  matter  of  footwear  from  the  domain  of  speculation, 
and  devise  a  new  shoe  adapted  to  military  conditions,  which 
should  have  as  few  faults  and  as  many  virtues  as  possible. 


4O  The  Soldier's  Foot  and  the  Military  Shoe 

Fig.  27 


Foot  of  a   soldier  wearing  a   popular  brand   of   civilian   shoe. 

Compare  the  appearance  of  this  compressed  foot  with  those  shown  in   Figs.    16, 
17,  18  and  19. 


The  Soldier's  Foot  and  the  Military  Shoe  41 

This  has  implied  careful  study  not  only  in  respect  to  footwear 
but  of  the  special  type  of  foot  it  was  intended  to  cover;  for 
the  two  are  properly  correlative  and  cannot  be  considered  sep- 
arately. The  necessary  work  of  investigation  ultimately  devol- 
ved upon  the  Shoe  Board,  which  had  various  sessions  during  a 
period  of  four  years.  It  is  perhaps  true  that  the  whole  subject 
of  military  footwear  was  gone  into  and  considered  more  thor- 
oughly by  this  board  than  was  ever  the  case  before.  In  this 
work  the  free  use  of  the  X-ray,  in  conclusively  working  out  and 
visibly  demonstrating  foot  relations  under  divers  conditions — 
here  systematically  employed  for  the  first  time — proved  very 
valuable. 

There  would  seem  to  have  been  almost  as  many  different 
ideas  as  to  the  proper  type  of  footwear  for  military  use  as 
there  are  officers  of  the  army.  The  great  tendency  among  all 
is  to  generalize  for  the  mass  from  the  individual  particular, 
and  without  mature  reflection  upon  the  very  many  weighty  con- 
siderations necessarily  involved.  A  very  large  number  have 
some  particular  shoe  which,  found  to  be  satisfactory  for  their 
own  purposes  as  individuals  under  all  or  some  conditions,  they 
believe  to  be  adapted  for  habitual  use  in  the  army  as  a  whole. 
The  Shoe  Board  has  thus  had  recommended  to  it,  as  the  ideal 
shoe  for  foot  troops,  almost  every  conceivable  style  and  shape 
of  footwear,  beginning  with  a  light,  low,  heelless  shoe  laced 
down  over  the  ball,  and  through  every  intermediate  type  up  to 
and  including  a  heavy,  double  sole,  hob-nailed,  hunting  boot, 
extending  to  above  the  knee..  Such  widely  divergent  opinions 
are  of  course  irreconcilable,  and  the  board,  while  duly  consider- 
ing the  merits  of  all  such  suggestions,  ultimately  found  itself 
in  the  position  of  having  to  accept  the  great  majority  of  them 
as  representing  merely  the  personal  opinion  of  a  single  more 
or  less  competent  observer.  Of  the  latter,  many  were  obvious- 
ly biased,  and  approached  the  subject  in  a  spirit  of  preference 
or  prejudice.  Many  suggestions  were  also  received  from  out- 
side sources,  more  or  less  influenced  by  financial  considerations 
in  the  hope  of  securing  trade. 

There  are,  however,  certain  fundamental  requirements  as 


42  The  Soldier's  Foot  and  the  Military  Shoe 

to  construction,  which  probably  all  who  have  given  even  casual 
attention  to  the  subject  will  agree  should  be  incorporated  in 
the  military  shoe.  Any  effort  to  work  out  such  a  shoe  on  a 
basis  at  once  scientific  and  practical  must  give  due  considera- 
tion to  them  all,  and  perhaps  the  only  ultimate  difference  of 
opinion  in  officers  as  a  class  will  have  to  do  with  the  propor- 
tionate degree  in  which  each  factor  agreed  upon  as  necessary 
should  appear  in  the  final  result.  The  board  entered  upon  its 
work  in  an  absolutely  unbiased  frame  of  mind  and  uninfluenced 
by  preconceptions ;  but  soon  came  to  the  firm  belief  that  the 
proper  military  shoe  was  a  physiological  one  which  must  have 
as  its  basis  the  foot  type  found  to  exist  in  the  average  Amer- 
ican soldier.  And  it  accepted  as  conclusive  that  the  military 
shoe  must  be  so  made  that  it  will  naturally  tend  to  fit  the  foot 
of  the  average  soldier,  and  not — conversely — that  the  foot  of 
the  recruit  after  enlistment  must  be  made  to  conform  to  a  foot 
covering  built  on  arbitrary  lines  not  in  accordance  with  natural 
bulk  and  contours. 

In  view  of  the  general  ignorance  and  misapprehension  re- 
specting the  anatomy  of  the  human  foot,  the  mechanics  of 
marching,  the  results  upon  the  feet  of  carrying  a  burden,  the 
proper  shape  to  be  possessed  by  footwear,  the  requirements 
necessary  to  consider  in  fitting  the  shoe  with  suitable  foot- 
wear, and  other  matters,  it  seemed  desirable  to  take^all  these 
matters,  hitherto  largely  in  dispute,  definitely  and  o'rfev@<  for  all 
out  of  the  domain  of  idle  speculation  and  mistaken  hypothesis. 
This  was  done  by  the  systematized  use  of  the  X-ray  to  show 
foot  structure,  and  alteration  in  the  anatomical  relations  of 
the  foot,  naked  and  in  shoes  of  various  sorts,  under  otherwise 
identical  and  perfectly  comparable  conditions. 

It  is  believed  that  careful  examination  and  proper  inter- 
pretation of  the  radiographs  appearing  in  this  work  will  con- 
firm the  conclusions  of  the  board  as  being  founded  upon  fact 
rather  than  opinion,  and  will  give  a  prompt  and  clear  apprecia- 
tion of  many  otherwise  obscure  matters  relating  to  the  sol- 
dier's foot  and  footwear. 

The  proper  fundamental  requirements  which  must  enter 


The  Soldier's  Foot  and  the  Military  Shoe  43 

into  every  consideration  of  the  shoe  for  the  soldier  were  duly 
considered,  incorporated  into  the  final  result,  and  here  receive 
mention  in  the  following  discussion  of  the  subject. 

(a)  A  good  military  foot  covering  should  be  well  joined, 
strong,  substantial  and  solid,  yet  at  the  same  time  sufficiently 
flexible  to  permit  of  the  natural  functioning  of  the  joints.     It 
must  be  supple,  so  as  to  avoid  the  undue  loss  of  necessary 
energy  in  overcoming  resistance  of  the  leather  with  each  step — 
likewise  to  reduce  the  liability  to  blister  and  other  injury.    To 
attempt  to  use  a  stiff,  unyielding  shoe  will  result  in  the  early 
falling  out  of  a  large  proportion  of  its  wearers.    No  better  ex- 
ample of  this  can  be  found  than  the  tremendous  disability  which 
occurred  among  the  Germans  as  a  result  of  the  use  of  a  shoe 
of  this  character.    But  on  the  other  hand,  the  shoe  can  not  be 
too  soft  and  yielding,  for  the  primary  purpose  of  footwear  is  of 
course  protection  of  the  feet  against  injury.    This  includes  pro- 
tection against  inequalities  of  the  surface  walked  upon;  the 
stones,   sticks  or  other  objects  which  may  be  inadvertently 
struck  against ;  the  keeping  away  of  sand,  mud,  snow  or  other 
harmful  substance;  protection  against  cold  in  winter  and  heat 
in  summer,  also  against  dampness  at  all  times. 

(b)  The  shoe  must  be  comfortable.     This  is  an  absolute 
essential  to  military  footwear,  for  uncomfortable  shoes  will 
inevitably  materially  diminish  the  ability  of  troops  to  march. 
Shoe  comfort  depends,  however,  on  the  resultant  of  several 
factors,  viz :    a  physiological  shape,  proper  material,  and  suit- 
able fitting.     It  also  is  affected  not  a  little  by  foot  condition. 
Detailed  discussions  of  these  matters  appear  elsewhere;  but 
it  may  here  be  mentioned  that  to  the  best  of  its  ability,  nothing 
has  been  left  undone  by  the  Shoe  Board,  from  the  standpoint 
of  scientific  theory  as  fortified  by  the  results  of  experimental 
trial,  which  could  in  any  way  enhance  the  comfort  of  the  mili- 
tary shoe  for  the  soldier  class  as  a  whole. 

(c)  The  shoe  must  be  durable.    The  soldier's  foot  cover- 
ing is  subjected  to  extreme  tests  of  durability  in  the  field,  be- 
ing necessarily  worn  through  dust,  mud  and  water,  or  over 
sand  or  rocks  as  the  case  may  be.     Questions  of  continued 


44  The  Soldier's  Foot  and  the  Military  Shoe 

adequacy  of  foot  protection  and  of  difficulties  of  resupply  in 
campaign  require  that  wearing  qualities  shall  be  the  best. 
With  shoe-wearing  peoples,  when  shoes  wear  out  marching 
capacity  practically  ceases.  To  ensure  that  only  material  hav- 
ing the  very  best  wearing  qualities  shall  be  used  in  manufacture 
of  the  military  shoe  is  thus  true  military  economy.  The 
original  virtues  of  the  material  may  be  long  retained  by  proper 
care.  The  main  wear  of  course  falls  on  the  soles.  These 
are  now  made  as  thick  and  strong  as  the  choicest  cuts  of  the 
thickest  sides  of  leather  will  permit.  They  cannot  be  increased 
in  durability  except  by  the  use  of  double  soles,  which  latter 
are  unnecessarily  heavy,  stiff  and  hard  on  the  feet. 

As  the  soles  wear  thin  to  a  point  where  inequalities  of  the 
ground  hurt  the  feet,  provision  should  be  at  hand,  in  the 
form  of  half  soles,  to  be  readily  attached  as  required,  to  se- 
cure further  use  of  the  shoe  without  discarding  the  still  good 
uppers. 

(d)  The  shoe  should  be  as  simple  and  neat  as  possible.  A 
plain  finish  is  desirable.  Box  toes  improve  the  appearance 
of  the  shoe,  but  they  are  made  of  sole  leather  which  is  moulded 
into  shape  when  wet,  and  this  shape  is  retained  only  so  long  as 
they  are  not  again  saturated  with  water.  They  have  the  ser- 
ious defect,  when  wet  and  drying  off  the  feet,  of  warping, 
shrinking  and  curving  down  at  the  posterior  margin  in  the 
formation  of  a  stiff,  sharp  edge  which  presses  down  over  the 
toes  and  is  practically  certain  to  cause  foot  injury  on  march- 
ing. Where  the  soldier  comes  into  camp  wet  and  tired,  he  is 
apt  to  throw  his  shoes  aside  without  thought  of  their  condition 
in  the  morning.  To  eliminate  the  source  of  danger  which  box 
toes  thus  offer,  they  have  been  left  off  the  military  shoe,  whose 
double  thickness  of  leather  over  the  toes  is  believed  to  give  the 
latter  all  necessary  protection. 

Neatness  in  appearance  is  desirable  in  so  long  as  it  does  not 
interfere  with  efficiency.  One  advantage  in  this  respect  in 
not  having  the  shoes  oil-stuffed  before  issue  is  that  they  cat,  be 
highly  polished  for  inspection  and  special  formations,  such  as 
guard  mount.  While  it  has  the  essential  advantage  of  being 


The  Soldier  s  Foot  and  the  Military  Shoe  45 

built  on  a  physiological  foot-form,  the  new  shoe  appears  much 
less  clumsy  and  cumbersome  than  most  of  the  more  or  less 
rational  army  shoes  which  were  its  predecessors. 

(e)  The  foot  covering  should  be  as  light  in  weight  as  is 
compatible  with  serviceability.    This  point  has  been  constantly 
borne  in  mind ;  it  being  appreciated  that  even  a  small  additional 
weight  on  the  foot  will  very  materially  interfere  with  marching 
capacity.    The  much  greater  effort  required  for  marching  un- 
der the  drag  of  even  a  small  amount  of  mud  adhering  to  the 
shoe  is  commonly  known.    That  an  extra  amount  of  weight  on 
the  foot  may  materially  alter  the  gait  is  well  understood  by  all 
horseman  and  applies  equally  to  human  beings.     In  working 
out  the  new  shoe,  it  was  made  to  weigh  as  little  as  would  be 
compatible  with  durability.     Every  particle  of  material  that 
could  be  spared  was  cut  away.     The  result  is  a  shoe  which 
weighs  only  about  two  and  one-half  ounces  more  than  the 
former  garrison  tan  shoe,  and  can  in  no  way  be  regarded  as 
heavy  or  cumbersome  for  military  use.     It  is  of  much  less 
weight  than  are  certain  types  of  footwear  more  or  less  com- 
monly used  by  pedestrians,  mountain  climbers,  hunters,  pros- 
pectors,  farmers   and  others   whose  work  or   recreation   re- 
quires  much   walking   in   the  open.      It   will   at   first  appear 
slightly  heavy,  however,  to  recruits  previously  accustomed  to 
wear  civilian  shoes  of  the  ordinary  light  civilian  type ;  but  this 
impression  of  somewhat  greater  heaviness  disappears  in  a  few 
days  when  the  foot  and  leg  muscles  develop  and  strengthen  to 
accommodate  themselves  to  changed  conditions  of  weight  bear- 
ing. 

(f)  The  shoe  must  be  made  in  such  a  way  that  the  sol- 
dier can  easily  put  it  on  and  take  it  off.     This  is  a  practical 
point,  the  need  for  which  is  obvious  to  all  conversant  with  the 
military  service.    To  facilitate  it,  the  shoe  must  be  capable  of 
opening  widely,  and  the  number  of  holes  for  lacing  reduced  to 
the  lowest  limit  compatible  with  the  holding  of  the  shoe  firmly 
around  the  ankle  and  over  the  instep.    The  new  military  shoe 
has  a  wide  half-bellows  tongue  and  but  six  eyelets  on  a  side. 


46  The  Soldier's  Foot  and  the  Military  Shoe 

from  only  one  or  two  of  which  the  lace  need  be  withdrawn  in 
order  to  readily  put  the  foot  in  or  take  it  out. 

(g)  The  material  of  which  the  shoe  is  made,  and  the 
special  treatment  of  the  former,  must  be  such  as  will  facilitate 
evaporation  of  moisture  from  within,  yet  not  to  a  degree  by 
which  the  absorption  *of  moisture  from  without  is  unduly 
favored.  It  must  have  pores  through  which  a  certain  amount 
of  air  can  pass ;  also  qualities  of  capillarity  by  which  moisture 
is  transferred  from  a  damp  sock  to  the  outside  of  the  leather 
where  evaporation  is  rapid.  This  is  very  important,  since 
otherwise  the  retained  perspiration  will  keep  the  feet  damp  all 
the  time,  while  interference  with  evaporation  will  make  them 
uncomfortably  hot  in  warm  weather.  Under  the  combination 
of  dampness  and  heat,  the  superficial  layer  of  the  skin  be- 
comes moisture-soaked,  soft,  tender,  and  apt  to  break  down 
in  the  formation  of  blisters  and  abrasions.  Yet  on  the  other 
hand,  the  shoe  material  should  be  sufficiently  water-repellant 
to  keep  the  feet  reasonably  dry  under  ordinary  conditions  of 
rain  and  dew.  Such  material  can  be  secured;  it  is  true  that 
it  is  not  perfect  for  any  extreme  condition,  but  best  meets  the 
needs  of  the  every  day  and  average  conditions  upon  which  the 
requirements  of  the  soldier's  shoe  must  be  based.  If  it  is  de- 
sired for  climatic  or  seasonal  changes  to  have  the  soldier's  shoe 
more  waterproof,  this  condition  can  be  produced  as  required 
quite  as  well  by  the  soldier  himself  without  the  necessity  of 
having  it  done  in  advance.  For  these  reasons,  in  developing 
the  recent  military  shoe,  it  was  thought  preferable  to  use 
leather  of  vegetable  tan  rather  than  chrome  tan,  since  in  the  lat- 
ter the  pores  of  the  leather  are  largely  filled  up  with  an  imper- 
meable deposit.  For  similar  reasons,  leather  "stuffed"  or  sat- 
urated with  oil  was  not  used.  Shoes  can  be  made  quite  water 
repellant  with  a  little  oil  but  without  saturation  by  it;  on  the 
same  principle  that  the  almost  imperceptible  greasiness  of  a 
duck's  feather  causes  water  falling  on  its  back  to  break  into 
minute  droplets  which  roll  off  without  wetting.  And  shoes 
thus  lightly  oiled  will  still  permit  of  passage  of  moisture  laden 
air  as  vapor  through  the  leather,  while  holding  out  water  in 


The  Soldier's  Foot  and  the  Military  Shoe  47 

bulk  unless  under  considerable  pressure  sufficient  to  force  it 
in  through  the  pores  of  the  material. 

(h)  The  material  or  leather  of  the  shoe  upper  must  not 
be  hard ;  otherwise  it  will  cause  blisters,  callouses  and  corns. 
The  "brogans"  formerly  issued  in  our  service,  and  the  footwear 
of  various  foreign  armies,  have  this  defect.  Apparent  hard- 
ness may  be  reduced  by  the  addition  of  a  lining  to  the  shoe,  but 
the  usual  effort  of  the  soldier  to  secure  this  end  consists  in 
getting  very  roomy  shoes  so  that  thick,  heavy  socks  may  be 
used  as  a  cushion  to  diminish  the  dangers  of  friction  and  im- 
pact. In  the  present  shoe,  the  leather  selected  for  the  upper  is 
as  soft  and  yielding  as  is  compatible  with  sufficient  thickness 
and  durability. 

(i)  The  cost  of  the  military  shoe  is  a  consideration  quite 
secondary  to  the  one  of  efficiency.  The  footwear  of  the  sol- 
dier, as  elsewhere  stated,  is  the  very  last  article  of  his  apparel 
upon  which  to  practice  economy.  Shoes  are  properly  to  be  re- 
garded as  much  more  than  mere  clothing;  they  are  the  agent 
on  which  the  mobility  of  infantry  depends  and  the  accomplish- 
ment of  tactical  purposes  is  possible.  In  the  end,  the  best 
shoe  is  by  far  the  cheapest,  and  the  economic  loss  alone — dis- 
regarding tactical  considerations— resulting  from  the  disability 
of  even  a  few  men  by  poor  shoes,  after  a  large  amount  of 
money,  time  and  effort  has  been  expended  to  prepare  them 
for  the  emergency  in  which  they  are  found  wanting,  is  far 
greater  than  any  saving  which  could  be  made  on  many  thous- 
ands of  pairs  of  shoes.  However,  this  does  not  mean  that  a 
proper  military  shoe  is  necessarily  an  unduly  expensive  one. 
It  costs  no  more  to  make  a  shoe  on  a  good  last  than  on  a  bad 
one  and  the  factor  of  labor  is  approximately  the  same.  Only 
in  cost  of  material  is  there  any  material  difference,  and  this  is 
more  than  compensated  for  by  the  greater  life  of  the  high 
class  shoe.  True  shoe  cost  is  not  a  matter  of  original  outlay, 
but  has  relation  to  the  average  number  of  day's  wear  which 
can  ultimately  be  obtained  from  the  article  in  question.  The 
military  shoe  recently  designed  costs  no  more  than  military 
shoes  of  the  past. 


48  The  Soldiers  Foot  and  the  Military  Shoe 

(j)  By  reason  of  the  relations  which  must  exist  between 
the  different  sizes  and  widths  of  the  general  military  type  of 
foot  which  it  is  intended  to  cover,  a  sufficient  number  of  sizes 
as  to  length,  and  letters  as  to  width,  must  be  provided  in  order 
that  the  foot  of  every  soldier  may  find  a  shoe  of  dimensions 
to  properly  cover  it.  This  point  is  taken  up  in  some  detail  un- 
der the  subject  of  fitting  of  the  shoe.  It  is  sufficient  here  to 
say  that  the  Shoe  Board  has  recommended  that  shoes  be  made 
in  fifteen  sizes  and  half  sizes,  and  that  each  of  these  be  made 
in  six  widths,  giving  a  total  of  ninety  varieties  of  shoes  from 
which  to  make  selection. 

(k)  The  shoe  should  be  perfectly  smooth  in  the  interior, 
especially  the  insole,  the  part  surrounding  the  heel  and  the 
uppers  over  the  fore  foot.  This  is  largely  a  matter  of  proper 
manufacture,  to  be  enforced  by  vigorous  inspection  before 
acceptance  from  the  contractor  by  the  Government.  Seams 
must  be  sewed  smoothly,  and  any  rough  edges  so  apt  to  hurt 
the  foot  must  be  cut  away.  There  must  be  no  seam  at  the 
rear  of  the  heel  to  thus  create  more  or  less  roughness  over  an 
area  particularly  liable  to  injury;  rather  there  should  be  a  heel 
piece  with  the  seam  at  the  side.  The  insole  must  be  cut 
accurately  to  proper  size  so  that  it  will  fit  the  shoe — if  too 
small,  it  leaves  a  depressed  space  between  its  edges  and  the 
margins  of  the  foot,  into  which  the  latter  overlap  to  their 
injury;  if  too  large,  its  edges  will  tend  to  curve  up  on  drying 
after  wetting  or  constant  exposure  to  sweat ;  and  inequality  of 
the  other  type,  but  equally  hurtful  to  the  foot,  is  thus  pro- 
duced. The  upper  surface  of  the  heel  is  usually  rough  from 
nails  which  have  been  pounded  back  and  clinched  into  posi- 
tion. To  cover  its  inequalities,  a  sock  piece  of  sheepskin  or 
calfskin  is  usually  glued  into  position  over  it.  This,  if  badly 
done  with  inferior  adhesive  material,  will  probably  result  in 
the  leather  piece  wrinkling  and  ultimately  working  loose  un- 
der the  combined  influence  of  moisture  and  friction,  the 
effect  of  which  is  to  create  an  uneven  bearing  surface  for  the 
heel  which  in  marching  will  probably  cause  its  injury.  The 
only  material  suitable  to  fasten  this  heel-piece  in  position  is 


The  Soldiers  Foot  and  the  Military  Shoe  49 

the  best  quality  of  rubber  cement,  which  will  resist  the  dis- 
turbing agencies  mentioned.  The  drill  lining  of  the  shoes, 
if  put  in  position  by  the  common  careless  method  of  manufac- 
tures, will  wrinkle  and  fold  over  the  toes,  causing  serious 
foot  trouble.  This  drill  lining  is  usually  tacked  on  over  the 
last,  wet  like  the  leather  with  which  it  is  used.  But  leather 
expands  and  stretches  better  to  fit  the  last  while  wet,  while 
wetted  canvas  shrinks,  as  is  evidenced  by  tentage  in  a  rain 
storm.  On  the  drying  of  both,  the  leather  retains  its  new 
shape  and  size,  while  the  contained  canvas  relaxes  and  en- 
larges and  becomes  redundant  and  wrinkled  for  the  space  it  is 
intended  to  cover.  The  remedy  is,  in  making  the  shoe,  to 
stretch  the  canvas  lining  over  the  last  dry,  and  to  fasten  it 
smoothly  to  the  leather  over  the  toes  by  a  thin  layer  of  rub- 
ber cement.  All  these  points  have  been  duly  acted  upon  in 
connection  with  the  manufacture  of  the  new  shoe. 

( i )  The  heel  should  be  broad,  flat,  long  and  solid.  When 
the  soldier  stands  erect,  the  heel  is  the  chief  point  of  support 
of  the  weight  of  the  body  and  burden,  with  the  bases  of  the 
great  and  little  toes  forming  accessory  points  of  support.  The 
latter  check  any  tendency  to  rotation  of  the  heel,  resulting 
from  shifting  of  the  body  weight.  A  large,  broad  heel  affords 
a  better  bearing  surface  and  grip  on  the  ground,  and  by  so 
much  reduces  the  muscular  tension  required  to  maintain  equi- 
librium of  the  body  in  standing  and  walking.  Its  surface 
should  be  flat ;  otherwise  the  sole  of  the  foot  will  be  inclined  at 
more  or  less  of  an  angle  away  from  its  proper  horizontal  plane, 
and  this  abnormal  position  requires  constant  muscular  effort 
to  counteract  it,  with  interference  with  marching  and  liability 
to  sprain.  In  persons  who  toe  out,  as  in  most  shoe  wearing 
peoples,  the  outer  margin  of  the  heel  strikes  the  ground  first 
and  forms  the  fixed  point  over  which  the  weight  of  the  body 
and  burden  is  supported.  The  result  is  that  this  outer  edge 
of  the  heel  tends  rapidly  to  wear  under  the  combined  influence 
of  much  weight  and  friction  acting  on  a  small  area.  To  avoid 
this  wearing  and  alteration  of  foot  plane  as  much  as  possible, 
the  outer  half  of  the  heel  is  heavily  reinforced  with  iron  nails. 


5O  The  Soldier's  Foot  and  the  Military  Shoe 

The  heel  must  be  low,  since  raising  it  will  throw  the  center 
of  gravity  of  the  body  forward  on  the  foot,  thereby  bringing 
an  undue  amount  of  pressure  on  the  foot  arch  which  was 
never  intended  by  nature  to  support  it  and  may  yield  and  flat- 
ten under  the  strain.  Also  it  will  force  the  foot  forward  in 
the  shoe,  bring  undue  strain  across  the  instep,  and,  unless 
the  shoe  is  very  long,  jam  the  toes  to  their  injury  against  the 
front  of  the  shoe.  Finally,  the  plane  of  the  lower  face  of 
the  heel  should  correspond  with  that  of  the  sole,  so  as  to  give 
the  most  secure  bearing  surface  on  standing.  All  these  points 
have  been  considered  in  devising  the  new  military  shoe. 

(m)  The  inside  of  the  shoe  over  the  heel  should  not  be 
too  wide.  This  is  necessary  in  order  that  there  may  not  be 
slippage  of  the  heel  of  the  foot  from  side  to  side  within  the 
shoe,  with  resulting  heel  blisters.  The  inside  width  of  the 
shoe  in  this  region  should  be  such  as  will  hold  the  foot  com- 
fortably, and  under  the  pressure  of  the  body  weight  and  bur- 
den will  be  rilled  by  the  flattened  heel  without  compressing 
the  latter.  Reduction  in  heel  width  was  made  in  the  new  shoe. 

(n)  The  posterior  wall  of  the  shoe  should  be  curved  so 
as  to  embrace  the  natural  curvature  of  the  heel.  This  is  neces- 
sary to  hold  the  rear  part  of  the  foot  in  position  and  reduce 
friction  on  the  heel  by  preventing  it  from  slipping  up  and 
down  and  chafing  against  the  shoe  in  marching.  This  im- 
portant point  has  been  overlooked  in  some  of  the  military  shoes 
of  the  past — notably  the  old  "brogan"  and  the  more  recent 
high  marching  shoe  (See  Fig.  36) — but  has  been  duly  con- 
sidered in  the  latest  pattern  of  foot  wear. 

(o)  The  shoe  should  not  support  the  arch  of  the  foot  in 
the  sense  of  lifting  it  up  or  buttressing  it  from  below.  This 
fact  is  opposed  to  common  belief,  but  the  latter  is  based  on  lack 
of  knowledge  of  the  anatomy  of  the  foot  and  misconception  as 
to  its  function.  Rigid  support  of  this  region  weakens  its  in- 
trinsic muscles  by  favoring  their  non-use,  and  thus  tends  to 
directly  cause  the  condition  of  flat-footedness  which  it  is 
attempted  to  avoid.  Barefoot  peoples  have  no  such  arch  sup- 
port and  flat  feet  are  practically  unknown  among  them.  As 


The  Soldier  s  Foot  and  the  Military  Shoe  51 

this  matter  of  arch  support  is  fully  discussed  later  under  the 
subject  of  flat-feet,  it  needs  no  further  consideration  here. 
In  the  new  shoe,  the  purpose  is  to  have  the  leather  accurately 
follow  the  outlines  of  the  average  soldier's  foot  arch,  but 
without  compressing  the  sole  muscles  to  such  an  extent  that 
their  function  will  be  interfered  with  and  their  development 
and  strengthening  be  impaired.  Every  structure  of  the  foot 
concerned  in  marching  should  be  left  free  to  function  to  the 
best  anatomical  and  mechanical  advantage.  For  this  reason, 
the  new  shoe  has  no  metal  shank  as  stiffening  under  the  foot 
arch. 

(p)  The  sole  should  be  sufficiently  thick  to  prevent  the 
foot  from  being  injured  by  inequality  in  the  ground.  But  if 
too  thick,  planter  flexion  of  the  foot  is  lost  and  dorsi-flexion  is 
much  reduced.  The  foot  is  thus  reduced  to  the  condition  of 
a  solid  block,  hinging  at  the  ankle  and  simply  furnishing  a 
solid  support  to  the  leg.  Moreover,  with  thick  soles,  the  lever- 
age function  of  the  great  toe  is  interfered  with,  and  the  push 
of  the  foot  is  across  the  whole  breadth  of  the  sole  at  the  meta- 
tarso — phalangeal  joint.  The  sole  of  the  present  shoe  is  as 
thick  as  can  be  made  of  one  thickness  of  the  best  sole  leather ; 
to  make  it  of  two  thicknesses  would  add  slightly  to  protection 
and  subtract  greatly  from  foot  power  and  comfort. 

(q)  The  sole  should  be  flat  across,  to  furnish  a  level  sur- 
face for  the  foot  and  a  more  secure  hold  upon  the  ground  in 
steadying  the  body  in  standing  and  marching.  It  should  have  a 
slight  upward  curve  at  its  forward  end  to  prevent  the  toe 
catching  in  unevenly  raised  places  on  the  walking  surface,  and 
to  permit  of  accomplishing  the  heel-and-toe-walking  of  the 
marching  step.  But  this  curve  or  "spring"  should  not  be  too 
great  or  the  toes  will  be  placed,  as  a  result  of  insufficient 
leather  in  the  upper,  in  a  permanent  condition  of  hyper-exten- 
sion which  interferes  with  walking  and  stability  in  standing. 
Some  officers  have  advised  a  very  considerable  "spring"  to  the 
shoe,  apparently  under  the  idea  that  walking  is  a  kind  of  roll- 
ing or  rocking-chair-motion — which  of  course  is  not  at  all  the 
case. 


52  The  Soldier's  Foot  and  the  Military  Shoe 

In  marching  with  the  naked  foot,  all  parts  of  its  bearing 
surfaces  are  in  simultaneous  contact  with  the  surface  beneath 
at  one  period  of  the  accomplishment  of  the  step.  In  other 
words,  all  anterior  parts  of  the  toes  are  in  strong  propulsive 
contact  with  this  surface  before  the  heel  leaves  it.  Too  much 
"spring"  in  the  sole  would  mechanically  interfere  with  the  ac- 
complishment of  this  relation.  Sufficient  curvature  or  "spring" 
of  the  sole,  to  better  suit  the  peculiarities  of  individual  feet, 
will  in  any  case  be  soon  developed  by  sufficient  use. 

(r)  There  must  be  plenty  of  room  across  the  ball  of  the 
foot,  so  that  there  shall  be  no  constriction  of  the  weight  bear- 
ing foot  at  that  point.  Under  continued  marching,  the  foot 
is  given  to  flattening  somewhat  more — particularly  at  the  end 
of  a  march  when  the  muscles  are  tired  and  tend  to  relax — 
than  it  did  at  the  trial  fitting;  likewise,  the  foot  will  swell 
from  pressure  interfering  with  the  circulation.  Moreover,  the 
metatarsal  bones  tend  to  separate  more  widely  from  each  other 
in  marching.  And  as  the  points  of  support  of  the  foot  may 
practically  be  regarded  as  the  legs  of  a  tripod  passing  through 
the  heel  and  the  fronts  of  the  metatarsal  bones  of  the  great 
and  little  toes,  it  is  evident  that  the  more  the  legs  of  this 
tripod  can  diverge  the  greater  will  be  its  stability  as  a  whole. 
Also  if  the  ball  of  the  foot  be  regarded  as  a  fulcrum,  the 
greater  the  width  of  this  fulcrum  the  greater  the  lateral  stabil- 
ity of  the  superimposed  body.  Breadth  across  the  ball  is  a 
characteristic  feature  of  the  new  shoe. 

(s)  The  toe  cap  must  be  high,  so  as  to  avoid  any  hurtful 
pressure  on  the  toes  below.  It  must  also  rise  abruptly  from 
the  front  of  the  shoe,  without  forming  an  acute  angle  into 
which  the  front  of  the  toes  may  be  wedged  in  walking.  Low- 
ness  over  the  toes  was  a  most  serious  defect  in  the  old  march- 
ing shoe,  resulting  in  a  vast  number  of  blisters  on  top  of  the 
toes  and  not  infrequently  in  loss  of  toe  nails,  usually  of  the 
great  toe,  which  from  its  greater  height  received  most  of  the 
pressure.  This  fault  has  been  remedied  in  the  new  shoe  of 
the  Shoe  Board,  which  is  three-sixteenths  of  an  inch  higher 
over  the  toes  than  its  predecessor.  Three-sixteenths  of  an 


The  Soldier's  Foot  and  the  Military  Shoe  53 

inch  may  not  seem  a  jgreat  increase,  but  as  it  has  been  added 
over  the  entire  toe  region,  which  measures  approximately  two 
and  one-half  inches  in  the  shoe  across  the  toe  from  sole  to  sole, 
it  has  added  approximately  one-half  of  a  square  inch  to  the 
sectional  area  enclosed  by  the  shoe  in  this  region.  This  in- 
creased height  might  not  be  enough  if  the  shoe  were  a  rigid 
container  or  had  a  box  toe ;  it  is,  however,  a  liberal  increase 
when  it  is  remembered  that  the  toe  cap  is  soft,  pliable  and 
readily  alters  in  shape,  and  unnecessary  excess  of  leather  over 
the  smaller  toes  is  diminished  and  flattened  down  under  any 
upward  pressure  of  the  great  toe  with  compensating  increase  in 
material  and  height  over  the  latter.  As  the  breadth  of  the 
great  toe  is  only  about  an  inch,  and  the  total  addition  of  leather 
in  the  toe  cap  is  nearly  all  available  to  increase  the  height  of 
the  shoe  above  it,  it  is  evident  that  the  recent  increase  in  height 
of  the  toe  cap  permits  of  its  elevation  over  the  great  toe  from 
a  third  to  half  an  inch  greater  than  formerly.  This  increase 
in  possible  height  over  the  great  toe  is  believed  to  be  quite  suffi- 
cient to  meet  the  needs  of  theory,  and  has  been  so  demonstrated 
in  practice. 

(t)  The  material  of  the  quarters  must  be  pliable.  This  is 
necessary  so  that  the  shoe  may  readily  yield,  without  the  for- 
mation of  hard  creases  and  ridges,  to  the  movements  of  the 
ankle  joint.  Stiffness  of  leather  in  the  quarters  would  ser- 
iously interfere  with  marching  and  promptly  cause  painful 
abrasions  around  the  ankle.  Nor  must  the  quarters  be  cut 
any  higher  than  necessary,  as  adding  materially  to  the  weight 
and  cumbrousness  of  the  shoe  without  giving  any  correspond- 
ing advantage.  So  long  as  a  legging  is  worn,  the  military  foot- 
wear should  be  a  shoe,  and  to  make  it  higher  than  the  new 
military  shoe  would  bring  it  into  the  boot  or  half-boot  class. 
The  latter  has  been  tried  out  in  our  service  and  found  un- 
desirable. For  the  vast  majority  of  conditions  encountered  by 
the  soldier,  the  height  of  a  shoe  reaching  a  little  above  the 
ankle  is  quite  satisfactory. 

(u)  There  should  be  no  stiff  or  excessive  leather,  or  rows 
of  stitching,  so  located  as  to  be  immediately  over  any  of  the 


54  The  Soldier's  Foot  and  the  Military  Shoe 

extensor  tendons  of  the  toes,  which  lie  clpse  to  the  surface  over 
the  instep.  This  particularly  applies  to  the  extensor  tendon 
of  the  great  toe.  These  hard,  rough  areas  tend  to  compress 
and  injure  the  tendons  sliding  beneath  them  and  cause  pain 
and  irritation.  In  the  new  military  shoe,  this  matter  has  re- 
ceived careful  attention,  and  areas  of  stitching  have  been  de- 
creased in  size  and  the  seams  of  the  quarters  brought  lower 
on  the  sides  of  the  foot.  This  also  permits  of  a  little  more 
stretching  of  the  leather  over  the  instep,  which  is  desirable  in 
many  cases. 

(v)  The  tongue  should  be  as  small  as  possible  to  prevent 
bunching  and  wrinkling  under  the  laces,  with  injury  to  the 
instep.  In  the  new  shoe,  the  tongue  has  been  reduced  in 
thickness  as  much  as  practicable.  The  full  bellows  has  been 
changed  to  half-bellows,  as  the  excess  of  leather  of  the  former 
caused  much  discomfort,  made  it  more  difficult  to  get  in  and 
out  of  the  shoe,  interfered  somewhat  with  evaporation  of 
perspiration  and  gave,  in  practice,  no  appreciable  increase  of 
protection  of  the  foot  against  water,  mud  and  dust. 

(w)  The  front  of  the  quarters  must  be  sufficiently  cut 
away  so  that  the  rows  of  eyelets  may  be  well  separated  in 
order  to  provide  elasticity  in  the  fitting  of  different  heights  of 
instep.  It  is  not  at  all  essential  to  foot  comfort  that  the  quar- 
ters should  nearly  meet  when  the  shoe  is  laced  up,  since  the 
half-bellows  tongue  closes  the  front  of  the  shoe  against  sand 
and  dirt.  But  it  is  very  essential  that  the  margin  of  the  quar- 
ters shall  be  far  enough  apart  to  permit  of  snug  lacing  on  feet 
with  low  insteps,  else  slippage  of  the  shoe  on  the  foot  is  cer- 
tain to  result. 

(x)  Eyelets,  and  not  hooks,  must  be  used  for  the  laces. 
The  latter  are  not  held  with  certainty  by  hooks,  and  fre- 
quent readjustments  on  the  march  may  thus  be  necessary. 
Moreover,  hooks  bend,  break  and  rapidly  wear  out  the  shoe 
laces,  while  causing  undesirable  rubbing  and  wear  on  the 
lower  part  of  the  legging.  The  substitution  of  hooks  only 
saves  time  in  fastening  and  unfastening  the  shoe  where  many 
eyelets  are  concerned — but  time  would  be  lost  if  the  military 


The  Soldier's  Foot  and  the  Military  Shoe  55 

shoe,  with  its  few  eyelets,  had  hooks  instead;  for  unfastening 
the  lacing  with  the  latter  loosens  it  completely  as  far  as  they 
extend. 

(y)  The  shoe  must  have  such  a  shape  that  it  will  not 
contain  any  useless  dead  space,  since  these  require  extra  ma- 
terial as  a  covering,  which  would  cause  unnecessary  weight  and 
encumbrance  to  the  foot.  In  the  old  marching  shoe,  consider- 
able excess  space  of  this  nature  was  present  in  front  of  the 
smaller  toes.  The  Shoe  Board  found  by  use  of  the  X-ray  and  by 
experimental  marching  that  this  space  could  be  considerably 
reduced  and  a  little  material  cut  away  from  this  region  with- 
out the  slightest  danger  of  the  smaller  toes  striking  against  the 
front  of  the  toe  cap.  Compare,  in  this  connection,  Figs.  33 
and  34.  This  change  also  improved  the  appearance  of  the  shoe 
by  giving  it  a  tapering  effect  in  the  direction  of  the  great  toe. 
This  cutting  away  of  the  material  was  gradual  and  began 
about  one  inch  behind  the  toe  cap,  or  about  opposite  the  end 
of  the  little  toe,  curving  in  toward  the  great  toe  with  a 
maximum  width  of  approximately  one  quarter  of  an  inch. 

(z)  The  shoe  must  also  have  such  a  shape  as  to  permit  of 
the  great  toe  returning  toward  its  proper  alignment  to  the 
degree  which  the  average  age  and  ordinary  foot  deformity 
of  the  soldier  class  would  warrant  reasonable  expectation. 
That  none  of  the  shoes  previously  supplied  in  our  army  were 
properly  shaped  in  this  respect  was  visibly  demonstrated  by 
many  radiographs  taken  by  the  Shoe  Board,  as  well  as  by  the 
marked  hallux  valgus  and  blisters  and  ingrowing  nails  com- 
mon among  soldiers  and  indicating  pressure  against  the  inner 
aspect  of  the  great  toe.  To  remedy  this  fault,  a  suitable 
amount  of  additional  space  internal  to  the  great  toe  was  needed, 
but  the  amount  so  required  was  not  capable  of  mathematical 
demonstration.  It  was  not  difficult  to  formulate  such  internal 
lines  for  an  ideal  last,  since  in  this  case  a  straight  line  from 
the  inner  margin  of  the  heel  would  fall  along  the  inner  margin 
of  the  sole.  It  was  possible  to  measure  a  number  of  feet,  and 
determine  thereupon  the  degree  of  deviation  of  the  average  toe  ; 
but  such  results  would  be  inconclusive,  since  they  would  not 


The  Soldier's  Foot  and  the  Military  Shoe 


Fig.  28 


Tracings  of  new    (solid  line)    and 
old   (dotted  line)   insoles,   (reduced.) 


The  Soldier's  Foot  and  the  Military  Shoe  57 

take  into  consideration  the  amount  of  correction  in  the  pres- 
ent faulty  alignment  of  the  great  toe  which  might  be  expected 
to  ultimately  occur  in  the  foot  of  the  average  soldier  if  en- 
closed in  a  shoe  of  physiological  shape  and  sufficient  width. 
The  latter  was  a  subject  never  before  studied  and  of  which 
nothing  was  known ;  nor  could  it  be  scientifically  so  studied 
except  by  an  extensive  series  of  experiments  based  on  suitable 
shoes  and  covering  a  long  period  of  time  in  a  class  of  soldiers 
of  various  ages.  But  the  Shoe  Board,  in  its  study  of  thousands 
of  feet,  had  naturally  arrived  at  fairly  positive  conclusions  of 
its  own  in  respect  to  the  average  amount  of  foot  deformity 
present  in  American  soldiers,  and  the  extent  to  which  its  nat- 
ural correction  under  favorable  conditions  might  reasonably 
be  anticipated. 

It  took  into  consideration  the  fact  that  the  average  sol- 
dier has  deformed  feet  as  a  result  of  habitual  use  of  improper 
shoes  since  childhood,  and  has  reached  an  age  in  life  when 
development  is  completed  and  any  alteration  in  the  relations 
of  the  skeleton  of  the  foot — for  example,  in  the  throwing  of 
the  great  toe  out  of  its  proper  axis,  as  in  hallux  valgus — 
tends  to  become  in  considerable  part  permanent.  The  best  to 
be  expected  in  the  shape  of  the  practical  military  shoe  are 
therefore  not  the  ideal  lines  which  would  properly  be  found 
in  a  covering  for  ideal  feet;  but  rather  sufficient  provision 
that  its  shape  shall  not  only  no  longer  tend  to  increase  or 
perpetuate  the  deviation  but  shall  permit  of  such  reasonable 
tendency  to  return  of  the  toe  to  normal  alignment  as  may 
fairly  be  expected  of  the  average  soldier. 

With  this  standard  in  mind,  the  board  proceeded  to  add 
more  space  to  the  inner  aspect  of  the  great  toe,  beginning  at 
its  metatarso-phalangeal  joint  and  gradually  increasing  to  a 
maximum  width  of  something  over  a  quarter  of  an  inch  oppo- 
site the  nail  of  the  great  toe.  (Compare  Figs.  33  and  34). 
Though  this  does  not  seem  a  great  increase,  in  practice  it 
amounts  to  straightening  the  inner  lines  of  the  shoe  and  giv- 
ing additional  space  to  an  extent  as  great  as  the  average  sol- 
dier's foot  can  probably  ever  utilize.  This  is  borne  out  by  ex- 


58  The  Soldier's  Foot  and  the  Military  Shoe 

tensive  radiographic  study  of  soldiers'  feet  in  shoes  so  modi- 
fied, and  determining  by  touch  the  amount  of  excess  space 
F.    29  which  the  deviated  great 

toe  at  first  did  not  utilize. 
The  shoe  constructed 
on  this  last,  as  just  indi- 
cated, will  have  an  inward 
curve  in  front  of  the 
shank,  which  produces  an 
apparent  slight  adduction 
— or  position  of  greater 
strength — of  the  foot  and 
allows  it  to  point  more  to 
the  front  in  walking.  This 
tends  to  throw  the  weight 
off  the  foot-arch,  and  upon 
the  o  u  t  e  r  and  stronger 

part  of  the  foot  where  it  belongs.  This  twist  of  the  forepart  of 
the  shoe  is  maintained  by  the  shape  and  thickness  of  the  sole, 
reinforced  toward  the  rear  by  a  stout  leather  shank  which  holds 
the  sole  rigid  from  side  to  side  while  permitting  its  necessary 
bending  in  other  directions.  This  bend  or  twist  in  front  of  the 
shank  of  the  shoe  exists  in  a  degree  which  is  only  physiological ; 
in  fact,  it  was  based  on  the  conception  of  the  Shoe  Board  on 
this  point  as  a  result  of  its  large  number  of  foot  examinations. 
The  purpose  is  to  have  the  foot  rest  on  the  shoe  sole  in  its  nat- 
ural position,  and  there  is  no  pressure  on  the  little  toe  calculated 
to  turn  the  fore-foot  inward  away  from  its  proper  alignment. 
And  it  has  been  found  that  the  average  military  foot,  placed 
within  the  outline  tracing  of  the  sole  of  a  new  style  military 
shoe  which  fits  it,  bears  a  very  close  relation  in  its  horizontal 
plane  to  such  an  outline.  The  sole  of  the  new  shoe  is  thus 
physiological  in  shape.  The  very  marked  difference  in  shape 
of  sole  between  the  new  military  shoe  and  the  marching  shoe 
which  preceded  it,  and  the  difference  in  position  of  the  feet 
which  would  be  within  them,  is  shown  in  the  accompanying 
illustration  (Fig.  28),  in  which  tracings  are  made  of  the  re- 


The  Soldier's  Foot  and  the  Military  Shoe  59 

spective  insoles  of  the  same  size  shoes  after  accurately  fitting 
their  heel  and  shank  portions  to  the  same  areas.  Lines  are 
drawn  from  the  com-  Fig  30 

mon  point  A  at  middle 
of  rear  of  heel  to  the 
furthest  point  at  the 
front  of  each  toe — the 
solid  line  AB  represent- 
ing the  longitudinal 
axis  of  the  new  shoe  of 
the  Shoe  Board,  while 
the  broken  line  AC  rep- 
resents that  of  the  pre- 
ceding marching  shoe. 
It  was  determined  that 
the  apparently  slight 
changes  made  by  the  The  new  military  last  and  shoe> 

Shoe  Board  in  the  shape  of  the  sole  have  resulted  in  the  shift- 
ing of  the  axis  of  the  foot  by  approximately  three  quarters  of 
an  inch  nearer  normal  at  the  toe.  This  change  should  be  of 
very  considerable  assistance  to  marching,  prevent  the  develop- 
ment of  toe  deformity  and  do  much  to  ultimately  rectify 
such  of  the  latter  as  has  occurred  in  other  than  very  old  cases. 

The  new  military  shoe  and  the  last  on  which  it  is  made  are 
illustrated  in  Figs.  29  and  30. 

The  shoe  last  and  shoe  finally  evolved  as  a  result  of  study 
of  the  foregoing  requirements  is  not  based  on  preference, 
prejudice  or  preconception.  In  its  outlines,  prevailing  styles 
embodying  the  temporary  whims  of  fashion  were  not  taken 
into  account.  It  is  believed,  however,  that  it  closely  coordin- 
ates with  the  shape,  volume  and  physiological  functions  of 
the  foot.  This  seems  apparent  from  a  comparison  of  Figs. 
3r>  32>  33  and  34,  in  which  the  same  soldier's  foot,  of  a  good 
type,  is  successively  shown  radiographed,  under  the  identical 
conditions  of  pressure  resulting  from  carrying  a  40  Ib.  bur- 
den, with  naked  foot,  with  foot  in  the  garrison  tan  shoe,  in 
the  old  marching  shoe,  and  in  the  new  military  shoe.  It  will 


60  The  Soldier's  Foot  and  the  Military  Shoe 

Fig.  31 


A   soldier's   foot   of    exceptionally    good   type,    supporting   weight   of   field    equip- 
ment,  without  shoe  or  sock.      (Reduced). 


The  Soldier's  Foot  and  the  Military  Shoe 


61 


Fig.  32 


The  same  foot  shown  in  Fig.  31,  supporting  weight  of  full  field  equipment,  but 
in  the  garrison  tan  shoe. 

This  illustrates  a  shoe  of  bad  shape,  but  as  good  a  fit  as  the  shape  permits. 
The  soldier  was  fitted  by  the  Shoe  Board.  Compare  the  shape  of  the  foot  in  this 
shoe  with  its  own  normal,  as  shown  in  Fig.  31.  (Reduction  same  as  in  Fig.  31). 


62  The  Soldier's  Foot  and  the  Military  Shoe 

Fig.  33 


The  same  foot  shown  in  Figs.  31  and  32,  supporting  weight  of  full  field  equip- 
ment but  in  old  style  marching  shoe. 

This  illustrates  a  shoe  of  bad  shape  but  as  good  a  fit  as  the  shape  permits.  The 
soldier  was  fitted  by  the  Shoe  Board. 


The  Soldier's  Foot  and  the  Military  Shoe 


Fig.  34 


The  same  foot  shown  in  Figs.  31,  32  and  33,  supporting  weight  of  full  field 
equipment,  in  new  military  shoe. 

This  illustrates  a  good  shaped  shoe  and  a  perfect  fit.  The  soldier  was  fitted  by 
the  Shoe  Board. 


64 


The  Soldier's  Foot  and  the  Military  Shoe 


be  seen  that  the  new  shoe  is  the  only  one  of  the  three  which 
permits  the  foot  to  assume  a  shape  and  relation  approximately 
like  that  of  the  same  foot  when  unconnned.  The  effort  was  to 
develop  a  last  differing  in  no  essential  from  a  normal  military 
foot  type,  so  that  shoes  built  on  a  certain  last  would  smoothly 
cover  the  actual  foot  of  that  size  and  width.  It  is  believed 
that  this  effort  has  been  quite  successful,  and  that  the  new 
military  shoe  is  the  best  ever  developed  for  military  purposes. 

Fig.  35 

MMIIlfll 


Shape  of  Sole  in  various  Military  Footwear. 
(After  Melville.) 

1.  Russian.  4.  United  States,  1908. 

2.  German  (new).  5.  French. 

3.  German  (old).  6.  Italian. 

7.  Japanese. 

Fig.  36 


8.  Austrian. 

9.  Gurkha. 
10.   British. 


Thickness  of  Sole  and  shape  of  Uppers  in  various  Military  Footwear. 
(After  Melville.) 

1.  German.  6.  Russian. 

2.  British.  7.   Swedish. 

3.  Gurkha.  8.  Austrian. 
4  and  5.  Portugese.                    9.  French. 


10.  Italian. 

11.  Japanese. 

12.  United  States,  1908. 

13.  United  States,  1904. 


The  Soldier's  Foot  and  the  Military  Shoe  65 

For  comparison,  attention  is  invited  to  Figs.  35  and  36, 
illustrating  the  footwear  in  present  use  in  the  armies  of  all 
the  great  military  nations.  They  are  evidently  very  heavy, 
clumsy  and  cumbersome  as  compared  with  the  new  United 
States  military  shoe.  As  to  shape,  their  great  diversity  in 
this  respect  indicates  that  if  any  one  of  them  is  right,  all  the 
others  must  be  wrong.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  not  a  single  one  of 
these  foreign  shoes  is  physiological  in  this  respect  and  they 
may  be  counted  upon  to  produce  unnecessary  foot  injuries  the 
more  they  deviate  from  the  anatomical  foot  type.  So  bad 
are  they  that  every  military  nation,  except  England  and  the 
United  States,  has  to  issue  a  camp  shoe  to  rest  the  feet  of  the 
soldier  while  in  camp.  (See  Figs.  37  and  38).  By  issuing 
a  good  shoe  in  the  first  place,  the  carriage  of  this  additional 
burden  by  the  soldier  is  thus  avoided.  The  Germans,  Rus- 

Fig.  37 


Camp    Shoes. 

(After  Melville.) 

1.  German  (old).     2.  German  (new).     3.  French.     4.  Austrian. 

Fig.  38 


Japanese  Foot  Gear. 
(After  Melville.) 


66  The  Soldier  s  Foot  and  the  Military  Shoe 

sians  and  Danes  still  issue  high  boots,  due  to  the  peasantry 
being  used  to  work  in  such  footwear  in  mud,  wet  and  snow, 
with  the  trousers  tucked  inside  the  boot  tops. 

In  concluding  this  section  on  the  military  shoe,  it  cannot 
be  too  strongly  emphasized  that  any  deficiencies  of  shoe  sup- 
ply, or  any  errors  as  to  fitting,  may  tend  to  produce  discomfort, 
dissatisfaction  and  foot  injuries  which  might  erroneously  be 
attributed  to  the  form  of  the  shoe  itself.  Ideally  perfect  foot- 
wear cannot  alone  give  good  results.  In  other  words,  the  shoe 
cannot  be  considered  by  itself  alone,  since  its  actual  utility 
to  the  wearer  depends  upon  the  tripod  of  supply,  fit  and  con- 
struction. If  any  leg  of  this  tripod  fails,  the  whole  structure 
of  foot  comfort  falls  to  the  ground. 


The  Soldier's  Foot  and  the  Military  Shoe  67 


CHAPTER  IV. 
THE  FITTING  OF  MILITARY  SHOES. 

A  shoe  is  said  to  fit  when  its  contour  smoothly  follows  the 
normal  outline  of  the  foot,  without  undue  pressure  on  any 
point  or  points,  yet  not  so  loose  as  to  result  in  harmful  fric- 
tion between  the  foot  and  the  shoe.  These  last  must  thus 
be  considered  together,  the  important  thing  being  the  relation 
between  the  inner  surface  of  the  leather  and  the  outer  surface 
of  the  skin.  The  point  of  support  should  be  large  and  firm, 
so  as  to  take  up  and  distribute  without  injury  the  shock  result- 
ing from  the  impact  of  the  foot  against  the  ground  in  marching. 

The  fitting  of  the  shoes  to  the  feet  is  the  second  essential 
necessary  to  insuring  that  the  soldier  is  properly  shod.  It  is  of 
no  advantage  that  a  type  of  shoe  be  supplied  the  conformation 
which  very  closely  approximates  the  foot  type  of  the  soldier, 
nor  would  it  in  addition  be  of  any  practical  value  to  have 
the  Quartermaster's  Department  maintain  a  full  stock  of  shoe 
sizes  and  widths  at  all  posts,  unless  the  shoes  selected  from 
the  numerous  varieties  officially  available  are  intelligently 
chosen  and  carefully  adapted  to  the  requirements  of  each  indi- 
vidual foot.  It  is  a  truism  to  say  that  when  shoes  are  not 
properly  fitted  to  feet,  those  feet  will  become  sore  under 
marching.  The  fundamental  importance  of  shoe  fitting  has 
been  largely  disregarded  in  our  service,  and  in  every  case  the 
fitting  of  shoes  to  soldiers  should  be  directly  performed  by  a 
commissioned  officer.  The  matter  of  the  proper  fit  of  shoes 
has  too  close  relation  to  military  efficiency  to  be  left  to  the 
hazards  of  chance,  indifference,  ignorance  or  prejudice. 

There  is  nothing  in  the  fitting  of  shoes  to  the  feet  of  their 
men  which  can  be  regarded  as  detrimental  to  the  dignity  of  in- 
fantry officers.  On  the  contrary,  it  is  a  legitimate  part  of  their 
duty  and  direct  evidence  of  their  efficiency  and  desire  to  enlarge 
their  usefulness.  Officers  at  the  Mounted  Service  Schools 


68  The  Soldier's  Foot  and  the  Military  Shoe 

learn  blacksmithing  and  farrier's  work  as  part  of  the  regular 
course;  and  they  learn  to  themselves  fit  horse  shoes  with  an 
intelligent  appreciation  of  the  basic  influence  of  proper  shoeing 
upon  the  marching  capacity  of  cavalry  and  field  artillery.  At 
every  post,  if  a  cavalry  horse  is  improperly  shod  in  the  pro- 
duction of  a  bad  gait,  interference,  over-reaching  or  other 
fault,  the  troop  commander  does  not  hesitate  to  give  his  per- 
sonal attention  to  re-shoeing — repeated  as  often  as  may  be 
necessary — until  the  fault  has  been  remedied.  Surely  the 
marching  capacity  of  a  foot  soldier  is  of  quite  as  much  mili- 
tary importance  as  that  of  a  horse,  and  the  responsibility 
that  it  shall  be  kept  at  the  highest  efficiency  develops  in  no 
less  degree  upon  organization  commanders  in  both  instances. 
Neglect  by  officers  to  give  proper  personal  supervision  to 
matters  of  shoe  fitting  and  supply  is  equally  detrimental  to 
the  military  efficiency  of  man  and  beast. 

Criticism  of  the  new  military  shoe,  per  se,  by  any  person, 
is  thus  unjustifiable  unless  it  can  first  be  demonstrated  that  any 
injuries  to  the  feet  complained  of  are  not  the  result  of  im- 
proper fitting.  It  has  undoubtedly  happened  in  the  past  in 
many  cases  that  footwear  has  been  held  responsible  by  officers 
and  men  for  foot  injuries  which  were,  on  the  contrary,  di- 
rectly attributable  to  their  own  indifference  and  neglect  in  the 
essential  matter  of  fitting. 

In  fitting- the  soldier,  he  should  be  encouraged  to  continue 
to  try  on  shoes  until  fitted.  This,  in  the  past,  has  not  been 
carried  out  as  properly  as  should  be  done.  The  convenience 
of  those  in  charge  of  getting  the  shoes  drawn  was  apparently 
more  consulted  in  many  instances  than  the  wishes  and  com- 
fort of  the  soldier  who  was  to  draw  them.  Any  method  of 
fitting  which  is  more  or  less  nominal  and  perfunctory  will  be 
largely  barren  of  the  results  desired. 

In  connection  with  the  necessity  for  properly  fitting  shoes 
in  the  removal  of  undesirable  friction  and  pressure,  it  is  well 
to  recall  the  number  of  completed  foot  movements  required 
in  ordinary  marching.  Assuming  the  average  step  to  be  30 
inches,  each  foot  will  strike  the  ground  at  intervals  of  60 


The  Soldier's  Foot  and  the  Military  Shoe  69 

inches,  or  every  5  feet.  But  there  are  5,280  feet  in  a  mile, 
so  each  foot  strikes  the  ground  approximately  1,000  times  for 
each  mile  traversed.  If  a  fair  march  for  infantry  in  the  field 
is  put  at  15  miles,  with  some  3  miles  before  and  after  it  in  the 
performance  of  making  and  breaking  camp  and  for  other  pur- 
poses, it  is  evident  that  each  foot  will  strike  the  ground  some 
18,000  times  during  the  day.  It  is  said  that  falling  drops 
of  water  will  ultimately  wear  away  the  hardest  stone;  and 
it  will  be  apparent  that  even  a  relatively  slight  defect  in  the  re- 
lation between  the  foot  and  shoe,  if  enabled  to  act  with  each 
step  through  such  a  vast  number  of  repetitions  in  such  a  re- 
latively brief  period,  can  scarcely  fail  to  do  injury  to  the 
delicate  and  tender  foot  structures  in  contact  with  it.  If  the 
defect  be  considerable,  it  is  apparent  that  more  or  less  com- 
plete incapacity  for  marching  will  scarcely  be  avoided. 

It  will  probably  at  once  occur  to  not  a  few  that  such  care- 
ful official  supervision  by  organization  commanders  of  the  fit- 
ting of  the  soldier's  shoe,  as  is  here  laid  down,  is  unnecessary, 
and  that  "the  soldier  is  the  best  judge  of  what  he  wants". 
The  latter  is  undoubtedly  true;  but  it  is  equally  true  that  in 
respect  to  the  shoe  "the  soldier  is  not  the  best  judge  of  what 
he  ought  to  wear."  And  to  this  statement  the  officer  himself 
is  by  no  means  always  an  exception.  Custom,  habit,  feet  de- 
formed by  previous  bad  shoe  selection,  desire  for  conformance 
with  prevailing  styles,  and  regard  for  conventional  ideas  of 
sightliness  rather  than  comfort,  so  warp  the  judgment  and  con- 
trol the  preferences  of  the  average  soldier  as  to  make  his  per- 
sonal selection  of  a  proper  shoe  the  very  rare  exception.  The 
Shoe  Board,  after  its  careful  study  of  many  hundreds  of  sol- 
diers' feet  and  its  fitting  of  many  thousands  of  pairs  of  military 
shoes,  in  several  of  its  reports  stated  its  conviction  that  only 
about  one  soldier  out  of  five,  if  this  matter  was  left  to  his 
own  selection,  would  properly  fit  himself  with  shoes — and  that 
such  proper  fits  as  were  actually  secured  were  probably  as 
much  the  results  of  chance  as  of  intelligent  effort.  These 
conclusions  of  the  board  very  closely  approximated  those  of 
Major  Reno,  M.C.,  who,  in  one  series  of  521  enlisted  men  of 


7O  The  Soldier's  Foot  and  the  Military  Shoe 

our  army  studied  by  him,  found  that  only  26.2%  of  these  wore 
shoes  that  were  properly  fitting;  and  that  in  a  later  series 
of  an  additional  609  men,  only  16.5%  of  these  men  wore  shoes 
that  fitted  them  properly,  while  508  had  on  shoes  that  did 
not  fit  them.  In  the  light  of  such  exhaustive  and  unbiased 
studies  as  have  just  been  mentioned,  the  propriety  from  the 
miltary  standpoint  of  letting  the  soldier  select  his  own  shoes 
must  be  emphatically  answered  in  the  negative. 

In  one  of  its  reports  the  Shoe  Board  said:  "The  practical 
experience  of  the  Board  in  twice  fitting  every  available  man 
at  Fort  Sheridan  shows  absolutely  that  a  very  considerable  pro- 
portion of  soldiers  cannot  be  trusted  to  select  their  own  shoes 
without  guidance  and  oversight.  Some  are  indifferent,  some 
are  slow  witted,  and  many  are  convinced  that  a  size  and  width 
which  they  believe  they  have  secured  before  enlistment  is  the 
proper  size  to  select  in  a  military  shoe.  It  is  the  unvarying 
experience  of  the  board  that  sizes  of  shoes  suggested  by  it 
to  such  men  are  accepted  by  the  men  as  better  fitting,  after 
trying  on,  than  were  the  shoes  originally  selected  by  them". 

In  his  lack  of  judgment  in  respect  to  shoe  fitting,  the  sol- 
dier is  no  worse — and  is  probably  better — than  the  average 
of  men  of  the  military  age  in  civil  life.  But  in  his  case  the 
effects  upon  himself  of  bad  selection  are  so  certain,  as  a  result 
of  the  necessity  for  hard  marching  under  heavy  burdens  not 
obtaining  in  civil  life,  and  the  aggregate  amount  of  military 
inefficiency  resulting  from  such  cause  is  so  serious,  as  to  de- 
mand that  a  matter  of  such  importance  to  all  concerned  shall 
be  taken  out  of  the  control  of  the  man  himself  and  reposed  in 
one  who,  beside  having  a  proper  knowledge  of  what  is  re- 
quired, is  invested  with  official  responsibility  for  securing  good 
results.  In  a  general  way,  it  may  be  stated  that  the  few  sol- 
diers found  by  the  Shoe  Board  to  have  selected  good  shoes 
also  had  feet  exceptionally  free  from  deformity  and  blemish; 
this,  however,  is  only  what  ought  to  be  expected,  for  if  such 
men  had  not  consistently  practiced  intelligent  selection  of  shoes, 
their  feet  would  not  have  remained  good.  As  the  reverse  of 
this  rule,  it  may  be  accepted  that  the  worse  the  condition  of  a 


The  Soldier's  Foot  and  the  Military  Shoe 

Fig.  39 


71 


Illustrates  defective  fitting.      Shoe   too  short  and  too   narrow.      Selected  by   the 
soldier,  whose  foot  is-  shown  supporting  weight  of  full  field  equipment. 


72  The  Soldier's  Foot  and  the  Military  Shoe 

soldier's  feet  and  the  greater  the  difficulty  he  has  with  foot- 
wear, the  more  he  has  demonstrated  his  inability  to  fit  himself, 
and  the  greater  the  need  for  the  selection  of  his  shoes  for  him 
by  higher  authority. 

When  the  average  man  is  left  to  his  own  devices  in  respect 
to  fitting  himself,  his  dominating  idea  seems  to  be  to  crowd  his 
foot  into  the  smallest  size  shoe  which  can  be  put  on  without 
too  much  suffering.  It  is  astonishing  to  see  the  very  large 
number  of  men,  who,  however  careless  they  may  otherwise  be 
in  respect  to  their  personal  appearance,  apparently  take  pride 
in  making  their  feet  appear  as  small  as  possible,  and  who  to 
secure  this  result  will  cheerfully  accept  pain  and  discomfort. 

In  the  work  of  the  Shoe  Board,  in  one  series  of  716  men 
left  to  themselves  in  the  matter  of  fitting,  447  or  62^  per 
cent,  found  it  necessary  to  try  on  more  than  one  pair  of  shoes. 
The  average  number  of  shoes  tried  on  per  man  was  2.17.  The 
number  of  trials  necessary  to  secure  a  fit  without  previous 
measurement,  but  with  the  members  of  the  board  present  to 
advise  and  suggest,  and  keep  the  men  trying  until  an  actual 
fit  was  secured,  was  as  follows : 

i  trial,  269  men;  2  trials,  246  men;  3  trials,  131  men;  4 
trials,  35  men ;  5  trials,  20  men ;  6  trials,  8  men ;  7  trials,  4  men ; 
8  trials,  3  men. 

Thus  only  about  a  third  of  a  command,  under  the  best  con- 
ditions of  advisory  assistance,  can  be  expected  to  pick  out  sat- 
isfactory shoes  without  extended  trial. 

The  method  the  average  soldier  uses  in  attempting  to  fit 
his  feet  makes  the  latter  practically  impossible  to  meet  the  need 
of  military  conditions.  In  this  method,  the  man  sits  on  a  bench, 
puts  on  the  smallest  shoe  he  thinks  he  can  wear,  rises  and 
stands  on  both  feet,  and  takes  two  or  three  steps.  If  his 
foot  does  not  hurt  him  too  much,  the  shoe  is  probably  ac- 
cepted as  a  fit.  His  foot  has  not  been  permitted  to  assume 
even  an  approximation  of  its  normal  degree  of  expansion  and 
there  is  no  burden  on  the  back  to  cause  the  foot  to  pain  under 
the  increased  pressure  which  would  be  thus  created.  The  sol- 
dier thus  fits  his  foot  at  rest  and  contracted  to  its  minimum 


The  Soldier's  Foot  and  the  Military  Shoe  73 

dimensions.  He  does  not  know  the  fact  that  in  marching  un- 
der the  equipment  his  foot  may  increase  in  length  and  breadth 
as  much  as  half  an  inch — and  very  possibly  if  he  did  know 
he  would  not  care.  The  result  is  that  a  shoe  is  usually  selected 
which  is  too  tight  for  light  duty  in  garrison;  and  in  the  field 
compresses  the  feet,  under  burden  carrying,  to  an  extent 
which  in  very  many  cases  may  promptly  incapacitate  for  march- 
ing. He  thus  chooses  a  shoe  for  considerations  of  looks  under 
conditions  of  peace  and  quiet ;  the  method  which  the  officer 
must  carry  out  for  him  has  for  its  purpose  the  selection  of  a 
shoe  giving  the  maximum  comfort  under  conditions  of  hard 
field  service. 

By  far  the  most  common  fault  of  shoes  which  have  been 
selected  by  the  men  themselves  is  insufficient  length.  Reno 
found  425  men  out  of  609  wearing  shoes  which  were  too  short 
for  them.  With  shoes  of  this  sort,  the  toes  of  the  foot, 
elongating  under  pressure,  are  jammed  against  the  front  of 
the  shoe  in  marching,  and  toe  blisters,  abrasions  and  corns  are 
inevitable  (See  Fig.  39).  The  next  most  common  fault  is  in- 
sufficient width;  of  the  series  of  men  just  mentioned,  over 
twenty-five  per  cent  had  mis-fitted  themselves  in  this  respect 
in  the  probable  production  of  injury  in  the  form  of  bunions, 
corns,  ingrowing  nails,  clubbed  toes  and  other  defects.  (See 
Fig.  40).  Only  an  insignificant  fraction  of  soldiers,  say  one 
or  two  per  cent,  tend  to  select  shoes  too  large  for  them.  These 
comparative  tendencies  toward  misfit  in  too  small  sizes  the 
officers  in  direct  supervision  of  shoe  fitting  should  bear  in 
mind,  so  that  they  may  be  properly  combatted. 

Another  matter  which  greatly  helps  to  interfere  with  secur- 
ing a  fit  by  the  soldier  is  the  fact  that  shoe  lasts  have  no  com- 
mon standard.  Each  manufacturer  of  civilian  shoes  has  his 
own  series  of  lasts,  and  all  these  differ  greatly  from  each 
other  not  only  in  shape  but  in  width.  The  same  applies  not 
only  in  respect  to  comparison  of  civilian  and  army  shoes, 
but  also  in  respect  to  the  different  kinds  of  army  shoes  which 
in  the  past  have  been  simultaneously  supplied.  At  one  time 
no  less  than  six  kinds  of  shoes,  built  on  totally  different  lasts, 


74  The  Soldier's  Foot  and  the  Military  Shoe 

were  for  issue  in  our  army.  All  this  naturally  confuses  the 
soldier  lately  from  civil  life.  He  may  recall  that  the  size  of  a 
certain  brand  of  civilian  shoe  which  he  was  accustomed  to 
wear  before  entering  the  army,  and  to  which  his  feet  had 
shaped  themselves  through  long  use,  was — say — an  8C.  He 
confidently  calls  for  a  Government  shoe  of  this  size  and  width, 
and  is  surprised  on  putting  it  on  to  find  that  it  in  no  way 
feels  on  his  foot  like  the  shoe  which  he  had  come  to  regard 
as  his  "size".  As  a  matter  of  fact,  it  is  totally  dissimilar.  But, 
impressed  by  his  previous  experience  as  a  civilian,  he  would 
very  likely  draw  and  attempt  to  use  it.  The  result  in  such  case 
will  be  sore  feet,  and  unsparing  and  undeserved  condemnation 
of  the  army  shoe  as  a  foot  covering. 

It  is  particularly  important  that  young  soldiers  be  given 
special  attention  and  intelligent  guidance  in  their  first  shoe  fit- 
tings after  entering  the  service,  so  that  they  may  promptly 
learn  the  size  and  width  which,  in  the  military  shoe,  is  best 
adapted  to  their  feet.  In  this  manner  also  the  mistakes  as  to 
shoe  fitting,  found  so  commonly  by  the  Shoe  Board  among  old 
soldiers,  and  so  tenaciously  adhered  to  by  the  latter,  would 
be  avoided  from  the  very  outset  of  military  life. 

Recruits,  in  time  of  peace,  might  be  fitted  with  shoes  at 
recruit  depots  at  the  time  of  their  physical  examination  and 
the  size  noted  on  their  descriptive  cards.  In  time  of  war,  old 
soldiers  would  draw  the  sizes  and  widths  of  shoes  which  prev- 
ious fitting  and  wear  showed  to  be  adapted  to  their  feet.  For 
new  organizations  and  recruits  in  the  field  complete  sample 
sets  of  shoes  should  be  sent  to  each  battalion  for  fitting. 

Another  trouble  in  fitting  the  shoes  in  the  past  has  been  the 
requirement  that  the  shoes  tentatively  selected  for  trying  on  by 
number  and  letter,  had  to  be  taken  to  barracks  for  such  try- 
ing on.  It  was  of  course  theoretically  possible  to  take  back 
shoes  not  found  to  fit  and  exchange  them  for  another  trial 
size — but  distances  between  barracks  and  the  quartermaster's 
storehouse  were  frequently  great  and  the  enthusiasm  of  the 
soldier  to  secure  what  he  regarded  as  a  fit  notably  diminished 
as  several  laborious  exchanges  appeared  to  be  necessary. 


The  Soldier's  Foot  and  the  Military  Shoe  75 

Fig.  40 


Illustrates   defective  fitting.      Shoe   too   long  and   too   narrow.      Selected   by   the 
soldier,  whose  foot  is  shown  supporting  weight  of  field  equipment. 


76  The  Soldier's  Foot  and  the  Military  Shoe 

Marching  seemed  relatively  remote  and  present  lack  of  effort 
was  regarded  as  compensating  for  possible  future  foot  in- 
jury. The  result  was  that  the  soldier,  in  some  disgust,  ulti- 
mately accepted  shoes  which  were  not  wholly  satisfactory  to 
him  rather  than  put  himself  and  others  to  further  trouble  in 
the  matter. 

In  this  respect,  too,  the  tendency  was  to  force  the  soldier  in- 
to a  rapid — even  if  an  unwise — choice,  since  it  was  for  the 
convenience  of  all  others  concerned  in  the  issue  that  it  be 
made  as  quickly  as  possible.  Recruits,  particularly,  were  not 
infrequently  enjoined  by  superiors  to  accept  what  was  given 
them  without  complaint,  even  though  the  shoes  so  issued  might 
differ  widely  from  what  was  requested  and  would  fit. 

By  drawing  shoes  at  the  quartermaster's  storehouse,  un- 
der the  personal  guidance  of  company  officers,  the  above  var- 
ious causes  of  administrative  defect  in  shoe  fitting  are  avoided. 

The  theoretical  answer  for  the  question  of  shoe  fitting  and 
supply  would  be  to  have  the  shoes  for  each  man  especially 
built  for  him  upon  lasts  made  from  plaster  casts  of  his  own 
feet.  This  is  of  course  impracticable  from  the  military  stand- 
point, and  fortunately  it  is  not  at  all  necessary.  Given  a  shoe 
as  anatomically  correct  as  the  one  last  adopted,  always  avail- 
able in  fifteen  sizes  and  half  sizes  with  a  choice  of  six  different 
widths  for  each  length,  and  these  fitted  with  intelligence  and 
judgment,  and  the  problem  of  foot  injuries  should  largely 
cease  to  trouble  in  our  army. 

But  until  a  more  uniform  standard  as  to  feet  prevails  in 
the  recruiting  service,  no  single  pattern  of  shoe  can  be  ex- 
pected to  exactly  meet  the  needs  of  all  soldiers.  A  small  num- 
ber of  accepted  recruits,  say  one  or  two  per  cent,  have  feet 
widely  variant  from  the  general  and  normal  foot  type.  These 
can  wear  the  present  shoe,  but  would  very  likely  be  more 
comfortable  in  shoes  of  a  somewhat  different  last.  However, 
if  it  were  attempted  to  satisfy  the  needs  of  this  small  class  in 
this  respect,  proportionate  discomfort  would  t>e  produced 
among  a  much  larger  number,  for  whom  the  present  last  is  a 
practical  duplicate  of  their  general  foot  type.  Diversity  of 


The  Soldier's  Foot  and  the  Military  Shoe  77 

lasts  should  not  be  tolerated  in  the  military  service,  for  the 
reasons  detailed  elsewhere.  The  only  reasonable  thing  to  do 
is  to  stick  to  a  single  last,  calculated  to  afford  the  greatest  good 
to  the  greatest  number. 

The  fitting  of  the  soldier  with  shoes  is  best  done  in  posts 
at  the  quartermaster's  storehouse,  where  proper  facilities  for 
trying  on  should  be  provided.  These  include  a  space  of  suffi- 
cient- size,  proportional  to  the  strength  of  the  command,  so 
that  there  need  be  no  unnecessary  delay  in  fitting;  benches 
for  the  men  to  sit  on  while  putting  on  the  shoes ;  a  stout  box 
or  platform,  about  two  feet  high,  two  feet  broad  and  three 
feet  long,  for  the  soldier  to  stand  upon  while  being  fitted;  a 
quartermaster's  foot  measure,  working  in  a  slotted  board  so 
as  to  give  a  level  surface  to  the  foot  being  measured ;  a  quar- 
termaster's foot  tape  measure;  one  or  more  quartermaster's 
shoe  stretchers,  for  the  rapid  softening  and  stretching  of  fitted 
shoes;  a  complete  set  of  army  shoes,  including  a  sample  of 
every  size  and  width,  for  fitting  by  trying  on  and  which  orders 
require  that  the  quartermasters  shall  maintain  at  all  times;  a 
set  of  partitioned  racks  to  hold  the  sample  shoes,  each  space 
plainly  numbered  with  the  size  and  width  of  the  pair  of  shoes 
it  is  to  contain.  A  copy  of  General  Orders  48,  War  Depart- 
ment, 1911,  or  the  latest  general  order,  or  circular  of  the 
Quartermaster  General's  Office,  dealing  with  the  sizes  and 
widths  of  shoes,  and  their  relation  to  last  measurements,  must 
be  available.  A  chair  for  the  officer  to  do  the  fitting,  drawn 
up  to  the  platform  on  the  side  which  will  be  on  the  right  of  the 
soldier  being  fitted,  completes  the  outfit. 

All  being  ready,  the  soldier  to  be  fitted  steps  upon  the  plat- 
form in  his  naked  feet,  and  carrying  on  his  back  either  the 
full  field  equipment  with  rifle,  or  a  40  Ib.  burden  to  represent 
approximately  the  weight  of  such  equipment.  This  weight  is 
necessary  in  order  to  bring  about  by  its  pressure  the  maximum 
expansion  of  the  soldier's  foot,  and  place  it  during  the  shoe 
fitting  under  such  conditions  as  it  would  be  placed  during 
marching.  While  shoe  fittings  in  civil  life  are  habitually  based 
on  feet  at  rest  and  thus  occupying  the  minimum  space  in 


78  The  Soldiers  Foot  and  the  Military  Shoe 

the  horizontal  plane,  the  method  of  shoe  fitting  here  de- 
scribed is  based  upon  the  fact  that  the  foot  in  action  differs 
very  materially  in  appearance  and  dimension  from  the  foot  at 
rest,  and  calls  for  a  determination  of  the  greatest  length  and 
breadth  of  the  foot  under  the  conditions  which  regulate  its 
expansion  in  marching.  Conventional  ideas  as  to  sightliness 
control  shoe  fitting  in  civil  life;  those  of  practical  utility  and 
accurate  adaptation  to  each  individual  normal  foot  type  are  in- 
tended to  govern  such  fittings  in  the  army.  The  expansion  as 
to  length  under  conditions  of  marching  pressure  is  much 
greater  than  is  ordinarily  believed,  not  a  few  feet  showing  a 
lengthening  of  as  much  as  one-half  of  an  inch,  (compare 
Figs.  13  and  15)  while  others  grade  from  that  down  to  a  point 
where  lengthening  is  insignificant.  In  general,  the  type  of  foot 
showing  the  greatest  expansion  as  to  length  is  one  with  a  high 
arch  and  weak,  undeveloped  muscles — the  least  lengthening 
occurs  in  strong,  normal  feet,  in  which  the  plantar  arch  is 
well  filled  up  with  muscular  tissue.  Flat  feet  show  practically 
no  lengthening  whatever,  for  as  the  arch  is  already  broken 
down  the  foot  is  incapable  of  further  longitudinal  expansion. 
As  the  amount  of  foot  lengthening  which  will  result  in  any 
individual  foot  under  marching  pressure  cannot  be  foretold,  it 
is  necessary  to  produce  such  expansion,  measure  the  expanded 
foot,  and  thereby  start  the  fitting  from  an  accurate  individual 
basis. 

In  choosing  shoes  it  is  necessary  first  to  resort  to  meas- 
urement. Few  men  know  their  proper  size ;  others  are  un- 
willing, without  mathematical  demonstration  of  its  necessity, 
to  accept  shoes  of  the  dimensions  that  they  ought  to  wear. 
Measurement  affords  assistance  to  the  one  and  a  check  on 
the  other.  It  gives  a  basic  minimum  below  which  shoe  sizes, 
for  trying  on,  should  not  go.  But  measurements  alone,  with- 
out trying  on,  will  rarely  properly  fit  a  shoe  for  marching  pur- 
poses. 

To  measure  the  length  of  the  expanded  foot,  the  burdened 
soldier  places  his  foot  on  the  foot  measure  working  in  the 
slotted  board,  with  the  heel  in  contact  with  the  heel  piece  of 


The  Soldier's  Foot  and  the  Military  Shoe  79 

the  measure  and  the  great  toe  lying  over  the  measuring  stick. 
The  soldier  then  stands  on  his  foot,  so  that  the  entire  weight 
of  the  body  and  the  burden  being  carried  is  supported  by  it. 
He  maintains  his  balance  by  resting  his  hand  on  the  shoulder 
of  a  comrade,  chair-back,  or  other  fixed  object.  If  the  latter 
is  not  done,  attempts  to  maintain  the  equilibrium  will  cause 
the  muscles  of  the  foot  and  leg  to  forcibly  contract  and  ma- 
terially interfere  with  the  relaxation  of  the  foot  necessary  to 
its  full  expansion.  The  movable  block  is  then  pushed  in  until 
it  just  makes  contact  with  the  end  of  the  great  toe.  The  meas- 
uring stick  is  graduated  in  both  inches  and  sizes;  for  fitting, 
the  former  may  be  disregarded.  The  size  is  now  read  off. 
Assume,  for  example,  that  this  size  is  6J.  If  a  shoe  built  on  a 
a  6J  last  were  put  on  this  foot,  the  toes  would  come  into 
direct  contact  with  the  front  of  the  shoe,  which  inevitably 
would  result  in  toe  blisters.  To  provide  sufficient  vacant  space 
in  front  of  the  toes,  two  sizes  must  ordinarily  be  allowed, 
making  the  length  of  the  shoe  thus  required  an  8|.  As  each 
size  amounts  to  one-third  (-J)  of  an  inch,  the  space  in  front 
of  the  toes  is  thus  two-thirds  (f)  of  an  inch.  But  putting 
on  the  sock  reduces  this  by  the  thickness  of  two  layers  of 
stocking,  one  in  front  of  the  toes  and  one  behind  the  heel. 
Moreover,  the  foot  will  slip  forward  a  little  in  the  shoe  in 
marching,  especially  in  going  down  hill,  and  when  tired  and 
stretched  at  the  end  of  a  march  will  have  elongated  to  its 
maximum.  Experience  has  amply  demonstrated  that  an  ori- 
ginal apparent  excess  of  two  sizes  is  none  too  much  to  provide 
for  these  contingencies  and  keep  the  front  of  the  toes  safe 
from  injurious  contact  with  the  front  of  the  shoe. 

The  circumference  of  the  foot  around  the  ball  is  then  taken 
with  the  measuring  tape.  The  position  of  this  tape  is  shown  by 
the  line  A-B  in  the  accompanying  diagram  (Fig.  41).  The 
tape  is  passed  snugly  around  the  foot,  but  not  tight  enough  to 
compress  the  flesh  and  thus  spoil  the  reading.  Suppose  the 
tape  measure  gives  a  ball  measure  of  9^  inches.  The  length  of 
the  shoe  required  has  just  been  shown  to  be  size  8J.  On  re- 
ferring to  Circular  No.  10,  Quartermaster  General's  Office, 


8o 


The  Soldier  s  Foot  and  the  Military  Shoe 


1912,  the  8J  column  is  read  down  until  a  ball  circumference  is 
found  which  is  the  same  as  that  just  given  by  the  tape  meas- 
ure. The  letter  opposite  this  circumferential  measure  is 
then  read  off.  In  the  present  instance,  this  letter  is  found  to 
be  "D."  The  size  to  first  try  on  is  thus  an  8J  D.  But  while 
the  length  of  this  shoe  is  probably  correct,  its  width  is  still 

Fig.  41 


Method  of  measuring  the  foot  to  secure  an  approximate  fit  of  the  shoe  to  try  on. 

somewhat  problematical  and  can  only  be  determined  by  actual, 
and  very  possibly  repeated,  trying  on. 

It  is  not  necessary,  in  order  to  secure  a  fit,  to  take  the 
measurements  over  waist  and  around  heel.  These  are  not  es- 
sential and  may  be  safely  disregarded. 

On  the  number  and  width  of  the  shoe  which  these  meas- 
urements show  ought  first  to  be  tried  being  called  out,  the 
quartermaster's  employee  in  charge  of  the  fitting  room,  or 
other  responsible  person,  takes  the  pair  of  shoes  in  the  8J  D 


The  Soldier's  Foot  and  the  Military  Shoe  81 

compartment  of  the  sample  shoe  rack  and  hands  them  to  the 
soldier  to  be  fitted.  The  latter  goes  to  a  seat,  pulls  on  a  pair 
of  light  wool  socks,  puts  on  the  shoes  given  him,  and  laces  them 
tightly.  He  puts  shoes  on  both  feet,  for  the  latter  sometimes 
differ  from  each  other  quite  materially  in  size  and  contour; 
also  sometimes  shoes  get  mixed  and  the  man  then  receives  a 
mismatched  pair.  For  these  reasons,  both  feet,  and  not  one  on- 
ly, are  fitted.  The  soldier,  still  with  his  burden  on  his  back, 
again  mounts  the  fitting  platform.  The  officer  notes  with  his 
eye  the  general  appearance  of  the  shoes,  as  to  whether  the 
latter  are  smoothly  adapting  themselves  to  the  outline  of  the 
feet,  are  too  loose  and  wrinkling,  or  are  too  tight  and  tense.  He 
then  causes  the  soldier  to  stand  squarely  on  one  foot,  support- 
ing himself  and  his  burden  or  equipment  in  such  a  way  as  to 
maintain  easy  equilibrium.  The  officer  then  grasps  with  his 
hand  the  vamp  of  the  shoe  across  its  widest  part.  Bringing 
his  thumb  and  fingers  slowly  together,  he  notes  the  feel  of  the 
leather  and  its  apparent  relation  to  the  foot  enclosed.  If  this 
leather  seems  loose  and  tends  to  wrinkle  under  the  hand,  the 
shoe  is  too  wide  and  a  narrower  width  should  be  tried  on;  if 
it  feels  hard,  tense  and  bulging,  the  shoe  is  too  narrow.  A 
good  fit  as  to  width  may  be  said  to  exist  when  the  foot  ex- 
panded under  body  weight  has  its  outline  everywhere  smooth- 
ly followed  by  the  shoe  leather,  without  the  latter  being  either 
redundant  or  binding  the  foot  in  any  manner. 

Suitability  of  length  is  verified  by  pressing  down  the  leather 
in  front  of  the  toes.  If  the  leather  and  tip  of  the  toe  touch  or 
are  close  together  the  shoe  is  too  short;  if  more  than  about  a 
half  a  thumb's  breadth  apart,  the  shoe  is  too  long.  In  a  good 
fit,  there  is  not  less  than  half  an  inch  of  vacant  space  in  front 
of  the  great  toe  under  pressure.  But  clubbed  toes,  with 
an  elongated  second  toe  protruding  beyond  the  great  toe,  may 
in  some  cases  necessitate  a  greater  length  in  selecting  a  proper 
shoe. 

Sometimes  several  trials  of  different  shoes  are  necessary 
before  a  fit  is  secured,  even  with  careful  foot  measurement. 
This  is  particularly  the  case  with  feet  presenting  some  abnor- 


82  The  Soldier's  Foot  and  the  Military  Shoe 

mality,  as  bunions,  or  hallux  with  clubbed  toes.  But  the  pro- 
cess of  trying  on  must  be  continued  until  a  fit  is  secured.  Us- 
ually it  will  happen  that  about  twice  as  many  pairs  of  shoes 
are  tried  on  as  there  are  men  to  be  fitted. 

In  connection  with  this  matter  of  fitting,  it  is  important  to 
remember  that  each  full  size  differs  by  one-third  (-J)  of  an  inch 
in  length  from  the  next  full  size ;  while  half  sizes,  as  their  name 
implies,  differ  from  each  full  size  by  one-sixth  Q)  of  an  inch. 
As  there  are  fifteen  sizes  supplied  in  our  army,  there  is  thus 
a  difference  of  two  and  one-half  inches  in  length  between  the 
longest  and  the  shortest  shoes  available.  Each  letter  of  width 
represents  one-twelfth  (jV)  °f  an  inch,  and  as  each  size  and 
half  size  has  six  widths,  a  variation  of  width  of  half  an  inch 
is  thus  possible  for  the  fitting  of  each  length.  With  every  in- 
crease in  length  by  a  half  size,  there  is  a  change  in  width  by 
one  letter — or  one-twelfth  of  an  inch.  Thus,  for  example,  if  a 
6D  is  found  to  have  the  right  width  but  to  be  a  little  short, 
a  size  6JC  should  be  tried;  if  a  size  8C  is  of  the  right  width 
but  a  full  size  too  long,  size  7E  would  be  proper. 

It  sometimes  happens  that  after  a  man  has  been  properly 
fitted  as  to  length,  the  widest  width  in  that  length  is  found  to 
be  somewhat  too  narrow  for  him.  Under  such  conditions,  a 
shoe  longer  than  necessary  should  be  given  in  order  to  secure 
the  greater  width  required.  A  little  space  in  front  of  the  toes 
does  no  harm  whatever,  while  a  shoe  which  pinches  them  will 
very  likely  cause  discomfort  and  injury.  Mistakes  in  fitting 
shoes  which  are  larger  than  necessary  are  both  rare  and  little 
liable  to  do  harm —  it  is  the  too  short  and  too  narrow  shoes 
which  cause  the  vast  majority  of  injuries  and  which  are  to  be 
carefully  avoided. 

Inasmuch  as  a  flat  foot  is  one  in  which  the  maximum 
elongation  has  already  been  practically  accomplished,  there  is 
relatively  little  danger  of  a  soldier  with  such  low  arch  get- 
ting a  shoe  too  short  for  him ;  but  the  danger  becomes  greater 
and  greater  according  as  the  soldier's  arch  is  higher  and  the 
muscles  which  support  it  are  thinner  and  weaker.  A  high 
arched  but  slender  and  undeveloped  foot  thus  needs  an  ex- 


The  Soldier's  Foot  and  the  Military  Shoe  83 

ceptionally  long  shoe;  later,  when  the  foot  strengthens,  a 
slightly  shorter  one  may  be  proper. 

The  amount  of  lateral  expansion  of  the  foot  across  the  ball, 
on  pressure  of  body  weight  and  burden  carrying,  is  very  con- 
siderable. The  difference  in  this  respect,  between  the  foot  at 
rest  and  the  same  foot  under  pressure,  as  demonstrated  by 
radiographs  and  footprints,  amounts  in  many  feet  to  as  much 
as  half  an  inch.  (See  Figs.  13  and  15).  Feet  which  have  been 
squeezed  and  contracted  by  too  narrow  shoes  usually  show  a 
relatively  greater  proportion  of  foot  expansion  in  weight  car- 
rying than  feet  already  well  expanded  through  use  of  good 
footwear.  (See  Figs.  42  and  43).  This  stretching  naturally 
tires  and  renders  painful  the  transversalis  and  interosseous 
muscles  through  their  entire  extent.  Such  stretching  and  dis- 
comfort does  not  mean  that  the  shoe  is  wrong,  but  it  does  mean 
that  the  foot  itself  is  at  fault  as  a  result  of  improper  footwear 
previously  worn.  And  it  is  a  very  cogent  argument  for  the 
use  of  but  one  last — and  that  a  physiological  one — by  the 
soldier. 

Another  reason  for  fitting  the  shoe  large,  besides  its  nat- 
ural expansion,  is  the  fact  that  the  foot  swells  considerably  in 
prolonged  marching,  through  flow  of  blood  to  the  part  and 
interference  with  its  return  flow  from  pressure  on  the  veins. 
Then  the  constant  striking  of  the  foot  against  the  ground  is  a 
stimulus  to  the  flow  of  blood  to  that  part,  with  dilation  of  the 
capillaries,  just  as  a  red  mark  follows  a  blow  on  the  flesh  of  any 
other  part  of  the  body.  After  hard  marching,  the  soles  of 
the  feet  are  often  painful  and  reddened  from  this  cause;  and 
with  shoes  which  are  too  small,  the  soldier  in  marching  in 
warm  weather  has  a  feeling  of  heat  and  irritation  in  his  feet 
from  congestion  due  to  such  interference  with  the  circulation ; 
in  the  winter,  on  the  contrary,  the  same  cause  operates  to  make 
the  feet  cold,  numb  and  readily  susceptible  to  frost  bite. 

The  number  of  shoe  sizes  and  widths  now  officially  pro- 
vided is  undoubtedly  quite  sufficient  to  meet  the  needs  of  all 
soldiers'  feet  except  the  very  few  enlisted  with  feet  widely 
variant  from  the  generally  military  foot  type.  Thus  in  one  ser- 


84  The  Soldier's  Foot  and  the  Military  Shoe 


Fig.  42 


Soldier's  foot  badly  deformed  by  too  tight  shoes.     Foot  is  at  rest  as  the  soldier 
is  seated. 


The  Soldier's  Foot  and  the  Military  Shoe  85 


Fig.  43 


Same  foot  shown  in  Fig.   42,   but  the  soldier  is  now  supporting  his  weight  on 
this  foot. 


86  The  Soldier  s  Foot  and  the  Military  Shoe 

ies  of  fittings  of  716  men,  in  a  garrison  containing  the  three 
arms  of  the  service,  23  of  the  75  varieties  then  authorized  were 
not  utilized  in  fitting  the  command.  The  extremes  of  sizes,  and 
particularly  the  extremely  large  sizes,  are  very  rarely  needed 
with  white  troops. 

In  fitting  the  military  shoe,  it  is  quite  as  important  that  it 
be  a  snug  fit  around  the  instep  and  ankle  as  that  it  be  a  loose 
fit  over  the  toes.  The  point  of  support  in  this  new  shoe  is 
located  over  the  instep,  and  this  requires  smooth  fitting  of 
the  shoe  over  the  posterior  three-fifths  of  the  foot  with  ability 
to  hold  it  firmly  in  position  by  its  lacing.  If  this  be  not  pos- 
sible, slipping  of  the  shoe  on  the  foot  will  occur  in  marching 
and  injury  to  the  latter  is  certain. 

In  fitting  the  shoe,  the  laces  must  be  passed  through  all  the 
holes  and  tied  after  being  well  tightened.  A  shoe  well  fitting 
in  this  respect  will  usually  have  the  margin  of  its  quarters 
about  one-half  inch  apart  when  well  laced.  According  as  the 
foot  is  greater  or  less  developed  than  the  average,  variation  in 
this  marginal  interspace  will  naturally  occur. 

It  is  important  that  the  position  of  the  shoe  on  the  foot, 
as  a  whole,  be  stable.  This  is  best  accomplished  by  a  close  fit 
in  the  posterior  half  of  the  foot,  in  which  lateral  pressure  on 
the  sides  of  the  heel,  and  around  the  heel  over  the  front  of  the 
ankle  joint,  can  cause  no  interference  with  any  structure  in- 
tended to  be  mobile. 

In  a  small  percentage  of  soldiers,  the  proper  fitting  of 
the  military  shoe  is  rendered  quite  difficult  by  the  fact  that 
they  have  relatively  large,  broad  feet,  low  insteps  and  slender 
ankles.  For  this  class,  which  is  fortunately  small  in  number,  a 
shoe  that  is  large  enough  for  the  lower  part  of  the  foot  is  too 
large  to  properly  fit  the  upper  foot  and  ankle.  The  latter 
fault  is  serious,  since  unless  the  foot  can  be  held  snugly  over 
the  instep  and  ankle  against  slipping  about  in  the  shoe  on 
the  march,  foot  injury  is  practically  certain.  In  a  few  other 
soldiers,  a  shoe  at  first  apparently  satisfactory  may  so  stretch 
in  the  uppers  as  to  be  no  longer  capable  of  lacing  snugly. 
A  practical  way  of  remedying  these  defects  is  to  insert  one 


The  Soldier's  Foot  and  the  Military  Shoe  87 

or  more  thicknesses  of  blanket,  cloth,  or  felt,  torn  into  suitable 
strips,  between  the  tongue  and  lacing  of  the  shoe,  so  that  the 
latter,  when  pulled  tight,  may  thus  have  a  point  of  firm  sup- 
port by  which  it  can  keep  the  foot  in  its  proper  position  in  the 
shoe.  Occasionally,  with  an  extremely  slender,  low  instep, 
it  may  be  well  to  pull  the  laces  snugly  and  tie  them  in  a  knot  at 
the  third  or  fourth  eyelet;  this  supports  the  shoe  better,  and 
looseness  in  the  last  two  or  three  holes  is  of  less  importance 
as  regards  foot  injury. 

The  average  soldier  may  be  expected  to  object  more  or  less 
vigorously  to  the  size  and  width  of  the  shoe  given  him  under 
his  first  fittings  by  his  company  commander.  Accustomed  as 
he  has  been  to  shoes  which  constantly  bind  and  compress  his 
feet,  he  will  regard  the  new  shoe  given  him  as  too  long  and 
too  loose.  The  squeezing  of  his  feet  by  the  shoes  he  has  him- 
self habitually  chosen  has  been  so  long  continued  as  to  appear 
to  him  to  be  natural  and  necessary.  Hence  any  complaints  that 
the  shoes  are  unduly  large  should  be  looked  upon  with  doubt, 
and  should  be  disregarded  unless  corroborated  by  the  officer 
in  charge  by  the  actual  manipulation  of  the  shoe  and  foot 
by  the  method  already  described.  In  the  fittings  made  by  the 
Shoe  Board,  a  large  number  of  protests  of  this  nature  were 
made  at  the  time  that  the  shoes  were  issued  and  during  the 
first  day  or  so  of  the  march  test.  It  was  noted  that  these  com- 
plaints practically  disappeared  by  the  time  the  march  test  was 
half  over ;  and  in  no  single  instance  during  the  foot  examina- 
tions, when  the  man  complained  of  his  shoes  being  too  large, 
did  his  feet  show  any  evidence  of  injury  whatever.  It  is  near- 
ly always  too  small  shoes,  and  not  what  may  feel  at  first  like 
too  large  ones,  that  cause  sore  feet.  Beside  fitting  shoes  to 
his  men,  the  officer  is  thus  called  upon  to  combat  error,  preju- 
dice and  misconception.  The  relations  between  foot  and  shoe, 
which  constitute  a  proper  fit,  are  excellently  shown  in  Fig.  34. 

Where  there  is  any  difficulty  in  accomplishing  a  fit,  it  must 
be  borne  in  mind  that  the  trouble  may  not  necessarily  be  in  the 
shoe  but  may  be  in  the  foot  itself,  through  some  abnormality 
causing  it  to  vary  from  the  general  type. 


88  The  Soldier's  Foot  and  the  Military  Shoe 

In  these  trials  of  shoes,  any  local  conditions  affecting  their 
fitting  will  be  noted.  Hurtful  local  pressure  over  bunions  and 
corns  can  usually  be  seen  and  always  can  be  determined  by  the 
hand.  The  same  applies  to  pressure  over  the  great  toe.  The 
man  himself  should  be  questioned,  and  any  area  or  point  of 
the  shoe  which  is  said  to  cause  discomfort  should  be  carefully 
examined.  Sometimes  such  a  shoe  is  badly  finished,  is 
shrunken  from  having  been  taken  off  the  last  too  soon,  or  has 
a  rough  seam  or  wrinkled  lining  inside. 

It  must  be  remembered  that  the  shoe  is  built  over  a  last 
which  has  perfectly  smooth  surfaces  and  gently  curving  con- 
tours such  as  are  not  found  in  the  human  foot.  The  last,  while 
perhaps  quite  accurately  reproducing  in  the  transverse  plane  the 
sectional  area  of  the  foot  at  any  given  point,  thus  only  relates  to 
sectional  bulk  and  general  outline.  The  latter,  in  a  gener- 
ally fitting  shoe,  may  both  be  quite  correct,  and  yet  the  shoe 
may  cause  discomfort  and  foot  injury.  The  reason  is  that  it 
as  yet  is  only  partially  fitted  and  still  requires  to  be  adapted 
to  local  conformation  of  the  foot.  If  the  latter  presents  no 
material  abnormalities,  this  adaptation  can  be  gradually  accom- 
plished by  occasional  and  progressively  lengthened  periods  of 
wear,  until  the  shoe  is  "broken  in" — in  other  words,  until  the 
stretching  over  the  prominences  of  the  foot  resulting  from  use 
of  the  shoe  has  resulted  in  better  equalization  of  pressure,  with 
enlargement  where  needed  at  the  expense  of  contraction  where 
excess  of  leather  is  unnecessary.  But  it  must  be  emphasized 
that  the  process  of  "breaking  in"  is  not  without  some  risk 
that  the  foot,  and  not  the  shoe,  will  "break  in"  first.  The  foot 
injuries  so  commonly  seen  in  soldiers  have  almost  invariably 
had  their  beginning  in  just  such  attempts  to  "break  in"  new 
shoes,  which,  in  either  size,  shape  or  both,  did  not  approximate 
the  foot  expected  to  wear  them. 

Very  much  of  the  danger  of  such  foot  injury  can  be  avoided 
by  the  use,  on  shoes  found  proper  as  to  length  and  width  but 
which  are  still  not  wholly  comfortable  to  the  feet  of  the  wearer, 
in  the  fitting  room  or  barracks,  of  the  shoe  stretchers  provided 
by  the  Quartermaster's  Department. 


The  Soldier's  Foot  and  the  Military  Shoe  89 

This  type  of  shoe  stretcher  is  practically  a  last  made  in 
two  longitudinal  halves,  capable  of  being  forced  apart  to  the 
extent  desired  after  being  inserted  in  the  shoe.  This  type 
is  particularly  adapted  to  stretching  the  leather  across  the  toes 
as  a  whole,  and  is  capable  of  giving  the  shoe  upper  a  shape 
quite  different  from  what  it  had  acquired  when  taken  off  the 
last.  This  stretcher  is  provided  with  holes  in  both  its  last 
halves,  so  located  as  to  come  approximately  in  the  foot  areas 
especially  liable  to  pressure,  blisters,  corns  and  bunions.  Ad- 
justable bulbs,  with  pegs  to  go  in  these  holes  and  hold  them  in 
proper  position,  are  provided  to  accomplish  local  stretching  and 
relief  from  pressure.  After  marking  with  a  pencil  on  the  out- 
side of  the  shoe  the  points  of  painful  pressure,  one  or  more 
bulbs  are  put  in  position  under  them  and  the  leather  forcibly 
stretched.  For  very  large  or  sensitive  bunions  and  corns,  the 
use  of  this  stretcher  is  quite  satisfactory,  for  the  areas  to  be 
treated  can  be  thoroughly  wetted  to  facilitate  stretching  of  the 
leather  and  the  apparatus  left  in  the  shoe  over  night.  A  very 
free  use  of  this  stretcher  in  the  shoes  just  selected  is  nearly 
always  advisable  and  does  nothing  but  good. 

It  sometimes  happens  that  shoes,  after  partial  stretching, 
tend  to  return  to  their  original  form  and  become  uncomfort- 
able. To  avoid  or  remedy  this,  the  subsequent  periodical  use 
of  the  shoe  stretchers,  which  are  authorized  for  issue  to  each 
company,  should  be  enjoined  on  their  men  by  organization 
commanders  in  all  cases  where  relief  from  shoe  pressure  is 
required. 

A  very  excellent  method  of  adapting  the  shoes  to  the  feet, 
after  careful  fitting  of  the  latter,  consists  in  having  the  man 
stand  in  his  shoes  in  about  three  inches  of  water  for  about 
five  minutes,  or  until  the  leather  becomes  thoroughly  wet  and 
pliable  and  in  condition  to  stretch  easily.  The  soldier  then 
walks  on  a  level  surface  for  about  an  hour,  or  until  the  shoes 
have  dried  on  his  feet,  to  the  shape  of  which  the  pressure  of 
body  weight  and  muscular  action  have  forced  the  leather  in 
drying  to  conform.  If  desired,  a  little  neatsfoot  oil  may  be 
rubbed  on  the  shoes  to  keep  them  supple  after  taking  them 


9O  The  Soldier's  Foot  and  the  Military  Shoe 

off,  but  this  procedure  is  not  necessary.  Shoes  treated  in 
this  way  are  made  as  comfortable  in  an  hour — and  without 
any  possible  danger  of  injury  to  the  feet — as  could  be  done 
with  a  week's  wear  under  the  ordinary  method  of  ''breaking 
in".  This  method  is  particularly  necessary  and  valuable  where 
troops  are  issued  new  shoes  which  there  is  no  time  to  break  in 
slowly  before  they  must  be  used  for  marching.  It  can  be 
properly  used  under  any  conditions  except  when  the  tempera- 
ture is  well  below  freezing ;  and  even  then  can  often  be  carried 
out  to  a  less  complete  but  still  advantageous  extent  by  wearing 
the  damp  shoes  indoors.  The  method  does  the  shoe  no  harm, 
and  merely  secures  with  intent  the  beneficial  results  which 
would  happen  in  any  case  through  the  first  rain  in  which  the 
shoes  are  worn.  It  is  a  deliberate  repetition  of  the  method  orig- 
inally employed  to  make  the  leather  adapt  itself  to  the  last  in 
shoe  manufacture,  and  which  is  again  employed  to  make  the 
leather  of  the  resulting  shoe  conform  to  the  local  contours  of 
the  foot  which  it  must  subsequently  enclose  and  protect. 

If  the  soldier  has  drawn  and  stretched  shoes  which,  from 
some  foot  malformation,  are  still  uncomfortable,  a  new  effort 
for  fitting  must  be  made.  In  all  probability  the  company  rec- 
ords will  show  other  men  fitted  by  the  same  size  and  width 
who  will  be  able  to  take  over  and  use  the  offending  shoes. 
But  it  is  far  better  to  throw  away  shoes  which  do  not  fit  than 
to  keep  them  at  the  expense  of  probable  serious  foot  injury. 
If  the  foot  deformity  is  of  such  a  nature  as  to  prevent  fitting, 
it  disqualifies  the  soldier  for  further  military  service. 

The  recruit  will  probably  need  two  especially  careful  shoe 
fittings,  one  as  soon  as  he  enters  the  service  and  a  second  one 
some  six  months  later.  It  is  a  matter  of  observation  of  the 
Shoe  Board  that  the  foot  of  a  recruit  put  in  the  army  shoe 
tends  to  broaden,  thicken  and  strengthen  very  materially  after 
enlistment  through  use  of  a  broader  last  and  the  foot  develop- 
ment resulting  from  marching  and  other  exercise.  A  shoe 
somewhat  different  in  width  from  that  originally  selected  will 
very  likely  now  be  found  to  be  desirable.  But  after  the  feet 
are  once  expanded  and  "set",  further  change  of  shoe  will 


The  Soldier's  Foot  and  the  Military  Shoe  91 

not  be  necessary  and  the  man's  shoe  size  becomes  practically 
a  constant  quantity  for  future  requisitions  and  trials. 

After  the  military  shoe  has  been  fitted  to  the  newly  en- 
listed recruit,  the  latter  should  not  undertake  hard  marching 
in  it  for  at  least  a  fortnight.  This  requirement,  for  a  shoe 
which  is  properly  fitted,  may  seem  strange.  But  the  army 
shoe  is  built  on  a  last  quite  different  from  that  of  the  shoe 
which  the  recruit  has  worn  until  recently  and  to  the  shape  of 
which  his  foot  has  become  habituated  and  conformed  by  long 
use.  The  army  last  is  broader,  its  shape  is  dissimilar  and  its 
points  of  support  are  different  from  the  ordinary  civilian  shoe. 
The  result  is  that  the  foot  of  the  recruit  must  be  given  time 
to  adapt  itself  to  its  new  covering.  Its  outline  must  be  al- 
tered, new  bearing  surfaces  must  be  toughened,  and — most 
important  of  all — foot  muscles  hitherto  weak  and  undeveloped 
must  be  strengthened  to  support  ligaments  now  subjected  to  a 
greater  and  unaccustomed  strain.  It  takes  time,  of  course 
variable  with  the  individual,  to  do  all  this ;  but  until  such  altera- 
tion and  improvement  of  the  foot  type  has  been  accomplished, 
discomfort  and  dissatisfaction  with  the  new  shoe  may  be  ex- 
pected on  hard  marching. 

In  the  second  fitting  of  the  recruit  with  shoes,  and  in  old 
soldiers,  no  such  objections  exist  in  respect  to  the  immediate 
use  of  new  shoes  in  the  field,  for  the  foot  has  by  this  time 
been  changed  in  the  above  respects. 

The  practice,  heretofore  very  common,  of  wearing  the 
garrison  or  a  civilian  shoe  about  the  post,  and  then  abruptly  put- 
ting on  a  marching  shoe  built  on  a  totally  different  last  for 
marching  at  occasional  intervals,  is  most  inadvisable.  Under 
such  methods,  the  foot  is  periodically  forced  to  attempt  a  tem- 
porary variation  in  type,  with  resulting  discomfort  and  foot 
injury.  (See  Figs.  32,  33  and  34).  The  supply  by  the  Gov- 
ernment of  several  different  kinds  of  shoes  is  thus  most  un- 
desirable, and  permission  to  wear  civilian  shoes  while  in  uni- 
form should  be  withheld  by  company  commanders.  All  shoes 
worn  by  soldiers  should  be  made  on  one  last — and  one  last 
only.  For  garrison  and  field  work  the  shoe  should  be  the 


92  The  Soldier's  Foot  and  the  Military  Shoe 

same.  It  is  undoubtedly  much  better  to  stick  to  a  single  last, 
even  if  the  latter  were  somewhat  imperfect,  than  to  alternate 
the  use  of  a  shoe  built  on  excellent  lines  with  another  built  on 
a  last  of  dissimilar  character. 


The  Soldier  s  Foot  and  the  Military  Shoe  93 

CHAPTER  V. 
SHOE  SUPPLY. 

It  should  be  almost  superfluous  to  say  that  after  determin- 
ing the  proper  size  and  width  of  shoe  required  to  fit  the  indi- 
vidual soldier,  no  shoe  other  than  that  thus  determined  to  fit 
should  be  accepted  for  him  except  in  great  emergency.  In 
garrison,  it  will  usually  be  possible  to  delay  drawing  until  a 
fitting  size  can  be  obtained.  In  case  of  necessity,  a  shoe  too 
large  rather  than  one  too  small  should  be  selected ;  for  a  shoe 
too  large  in  its  several  dimensions  may  be  made  quite  com- 
fortable by  the  use  of  heavy  woolen  socks  or  several  pairs  of 
light  ones.  However,  the  soldier  himself,  if  given  a  preference 
under  such  conditions,  will  usually  choose  the  small  one.  The 
frequently  considerable  shortage  of  stock  of  shoes  kept  on  hand 
at  posts  has,  in  the  past,  resulted  in  very  many  instances  of 
unnecessary  foot  injury  through  the  soldier  having  to  draw  a 
shoe  which  did  not  fit,  or  go  without  any.  Ill  fitting  shoes 
forced  upon  the  soldier  in  this  way  are  certain  to  do  him  harm. 
There  is,  of  course,  no  necessity  for  such  requirement,  for 
shortage  of  stock  in  this  fundamentally  important  respect  can 
and  should  be  anticipated  and  prevented  by  every  efficient  quar- 
termaster. General  Orders  26,  War  Department,  1912,  require 
that  special  written  report  shall  be  made  by  organization  com- 
manders to  their  post  commanders  in  each  case  where  the 
sizes  and  widths  of  shoes  requisitioned  for  are  not  available 
or  the  official  facilities  for  fitting  them  are  not  provided ;  post 
and  other  commanders  are  to  investigate  and  take  such  appro- 
priate remedial  action  on  these  reports,  as  lies  in  their  power ; 
also  the  latter  are  to  furnish  a  record  of  the  number  of  such 
reports,  and  the  reasons  for  such  deficiencies,  to  inspectors  at 
each  inspection  of  the  post. 

Inspections  conducted  under  the  provisions  of  Paragraph 
913,  Army  Regulations,  are  to  embrace  an  inquiry  into  the 


94  The  Soldier's  Foot  and  the  Military  Shoe 

manner  in  which  the  foregoing  order  has  been  complied  with, 
and  the  report  of  inspections  is  to  include  a  statement  of  all  in- 
stances of  failure  on  the  part  of  company  commanders  to  se- 
cure proper  shoes  for  their  commands,  and  the  cause  of  such 
failure.  This  should  do  much  to  cause  proper  forethought  in 
maintaining  at  all  times  a  sufficient  shoe  supply. 

It  is  also  required  that  post  quartermasters  shall  maintain  a 
full  series  of  shoes,  including  a  sample  of  every  size  and  width, 
for  use  by  organizations  in  fitting  by  trying  on.  This  series 
is  to  be  kept  intact  and  suitable  for  trying  on  by  returning  to 
the  general  stock  for  issue  any  shoes  beginning  to  stretch  from 
use  and  alter  in  appearance  from  handling.  By  the  use  of 
this  series  of  samples,  shoes  may  be  fitted  and  appropriate 
requisition  thereby  made  for  such  varieties  as  may  be  needed 
and  are  not  on  hand. 

This  matter  of  completeness  of  stock  from  which  to  make 
fittings  and  draw  shoes  is  a  matter  of  fundamental  importance. 
No  matter  how  carefully  efforts  to  fit  the  man's  feet  are  made, 
it  is  obvious  that  unless  the  special  variety  of  shoes  needed  by 
him  are  on  hand  for  supply,  the  soldier  can  not  be  provided 
with  suitable  footwear.  Shortage  of  shoe  supply  is  a  matter 
of  administrative  incapacity  which  cannot  be  tolerated  by  com- 
pany commanders,  as  having  too  direct  and  profound  an  in- 
fluence on  the  military  efficiency  of  their  organizations. 

If  a  civilian  desires  a  certain  size  and  width  of  shoe  he 
can  go  to  a  second  shoe  store  if  he  cannot  obtain  what  he  de- 
sires in  the  first  one.  The  soldier,  however,  has  no  second 
source  of  supply  to  which  he  can,  or  would  be  allowed  to, 
resort.  He  must  take  what  is  given  him.  If  the  local  quar- 
termaster's supply  is  deficient,  the  soldier  must  do  without 
what  he  wishes  and  requires  and  what  the  Government  is 
supposed  to  supply  to  him. 

In  connection  with  the  matter  of  supply,  the  Shoe  Board,  in 
1912,  called  for  data  from  five  large  posts,  including  the  largest 
in  the  army,  in  respect  to  the  number,  length  and  width  of 
all  the  marching  shoes  supposed  to  be  kept  in  stock  and  avail- 
able for  issue.  Of  these,  one  post  lacked  9  per  cent ;  another 


The  Soldier's  Foot  and  the  Military  Shoe  95 

18  per  cent;  another,  27  per  cent;  another,  47  per  cent;  ano- 
ther, 85  per  cent.  Not  only  was  there  such  shortage  as  would 
render  fitting  of  soldiers  impossible,  but  as  it  was  chiefly  in  the 
sizes  in  most  common  use  which  were  most  frequently  drawn, 
those  which  remained  were  largely  off  sizes  capable  of  fitting 
but  a  small  proportion  of  the  command. 

It  is  quite  conceivable  that  about  any  article  other  than 
shoes  could  be  ill  fitting  and  still  be  worn  by  the  soldier  with- 
out particular  discomfort  or  detriment  to  his  military  effi- 
ciency. An  ill  fitting  pair  of  trousers  or  shirt  would  have  no 
particular  influence  on  the  performance  of  field  duty,  though 
appearances  might  suffer  somewhat.  But  in  respect  to  shoes, 
he  must  have  exactly  the  length  and  width  of  shoes  his  feet 
require,  or  pay  an  undeserved  penalty  which  is  exacted  not 
only  from  the  man  himself  but  falls  in  large  part  upon  the 
Government  which  employs  him. 

It  may  be  true  that  the  supply  department  has  certain 
administrative  restrictions  which  interfere  with  the  main- 
tenance at  all  times  of  a  full  assortment  of  shoes  in  posts.  But 
the  same  authority  which  created  these  artificial  restrictions  is 
competent  to  remove  them.  Economy  in  the  military  service 
is  of  course  desirable,  but  the  last  item  on  which  to  make  a 
saving  is  the  soldier's  shoe.  Every  post  should  have  its  sur- 
plus stock  of  shoes  sufficient  to  meet  the  needs  of  any  reason- 
able anticipation.  Recruits  are  liable  to  arrive  at  any  time — 
or  troops,  whose  proper  requisitions  have  been  sent  in  at  one 
station,  are  suddenly  sent  to  another  before  supply.  Exper- 
ience will  in  time  furnish  accurate  information  as  to  the  num- 
ber of  pairs  of  shoes  of  each  size  and  width  required  in  the 
fitting  of  United  States  soldiers,  and  proper  use  of  such  in- 
formation in  advance  should  ordinarily  forestall  any  shortage 
of  stock.  Much  data  of  this  sort  has  been  tabulated  in  the 
past  by  the  Quartermaster's  Department,  but  as  this  relates 
to  shoes  built  on  lasts  now  obsolete  and  quite  different  from 
those  now  used,  and  to  shoe  issues  based  on  unsupervised 
choice  by  soldiers  and  not  on  their  careful  fitting,  such  data 
is  practically  valueless  for  present  purposes.  It  will  not  take 


The  Soldier's  Foot  and  the  Military  Shoe 


long,  however,  to  secure  for  supply  purposes  sufficient  new 
data  based  on  modern  shoes  and  readjusted  conditions. 

According  to  figures  given  by  Reno  in  respect  to  the  sizes 
of  shoes  worn  by  521  men  examined  by  him,  only  about  one 
pair  of  shoes  in  sizes,  5,  5^,  6,  9^,  10,  10^,  n  and  iil/2  are 
required  for  every  seven  or  eight  pairs  required  in  the  medium 

Fig.  44 


{.  t.    I  Ji  '\.  *V  I  8i    '••    9     !  1i    -10    I  /U-    j  //       n't. 

^m^l^^^^^m^^m^^ 

!!        hi: 


;        .I       ;>!"•'      X.1      i  '         '   '••      i  » 

_4_j^VL._.j.^|L._|^}' 


Chart  illustrating  the  proportion  of  shoe  sizes  ordinarily  drawn.     (From   Reno.) 

sizes  of  6l/2,  7,  7l/2,  8,  8y2  and  9.     His  figures,  expressed  in 
graphic  form,  appear  in  Fig.  44. 

Shoe  supply  must  also  take  cognizance  of  other  modifying 
factors  in  respect  to  the  proportion  of  each  variety  of  shoe  to 
be  kept  in  stock.  These  have  to  do  with  race,  for  colored  troops 
habitually  require  shoes  averaging  a  size  or  more  larger  than 
white  troops  of  the  same  branch  of  the  service.  The  Filipino 
troops,  conversely,  being  small  men,  will  find  their  shoe  fit- 
tings in  the  small  sizes.  The  composition  of  a  force  or  garri- 
son, by  branch  of  service,  must  also  be  given  consideration; 
for  cavalrymen,  for  example,  are  smaller  men,  have  smaller 
feet,  and  can  wear  a  more  snug  fit  than  the  infantry  by  reason 
of  using  their  feet  less  and  carrying  less  burden;  while  artil- 
lery men  of  the  mountain  batteries,  in  whom  a  minimum 


The  Soldier's  Foot  and  the  Military  Shoe  97 

height  of  68  inches  is  required,  have  feet  proportioned  in  size 
to  the  greater  size  of  these  men.  All  these  facts  can  and  should 
be  considered  by  quartermasters  in  submitting  their  estimates 
for  shoe  supply,  and  sincere  co-operation  with  company  com- 
manders in  assuring  that  every  man  of  the  command  is  prop- 
erly shod  should  be  the  rule. 

But  it  may  be  that  some  contingency  has  resulted  in  short- 
age of  certain  varieties  of  shoes  desired.  There  must  be 
some  way  of  getting  these  shoes  without  delay,  for  the  soldier 
needs  his  shoes  at  once.  As  quartermasters  are  officially  re- 
sponsible for  so  many  pairs  of  shoes  merely,  without  regard  to 
length  and  width,  it  should  be  quite  possible  for  them  to  have 
authority  to  mail  back  to  depot  quartermasters  a  sufficient 
number  of  surplus  sizes  and  receive  by  return  mail  the  same 
number  of  shoes  of  the  missing  sizes  required.  This  arrange- 
ment would  produce  no  undesirable  complications  as  to  prop- 
erty responsibility,  would  tremendously  facilitate  prompt  and 
proper  shoe  supply,  and  would  enable  stock  provided  on  the 
basis  of  a  different  size  and  composition  of  the  command  to  be 
properly  adjusted  to  present  needs  by  turning  in  shoes  from 
sizes  which,  under  changed  conditions,  may  have  become  large- 
ly superfluous. 

But  whatever  administrative  obstacles  may  arise  to  inter- 
fere with  efficient  shoe  supply,  they  must  be  removed.  No  mat- 
ter of  departmental  method  or  convenience  must  be  permitted 
to  remain  which  in  any  way  can  interfere  with  such  a  matter 
of  fundamental  military  importance  as  the  shoeing  of  the 
soldier. 


98  The  Soldier's  Foot  and  the  Military  Shoe 


CHAPTER  VI. 
THE  CARE  OF  THE  FEET. 

Field  Service  Regulations,  paragraph  142,  prescribe  that 
in  the  management  of  marching  troops  "special  care  is  paid 
to  the  feet".  While  details  of  the  necessary  "care"  cannot 
of  course  be  given  in  a  work  of  that  general  nature,  it  is  be- 
lieved that  the  care  of  the  soldier's  foot,  like  his  selection 
of  a  shoe,  has  been  given  far  less  official  regard  than  its  im- 
portance deserves;  under  the  specious  reasoning  that  if  the 
soldier  did  not  look  out  for  the  welfare  of  his  own  feet  he 
would  find  appropriate  punishment  in  the  results  of  his  own 
neglect.  This  idea  is  of  course  faulty  in  that  it  apparently  over- 
looks the  fact  that  the  soldier  is  not  always  informed  as  to 
the  best  procedure  for  the  care  of  his  feet,  and  that  some  need 
oversight  and  direction  to  spur  them  on  to  proper  effort;  it 
also  ignores  the  fundamental  fact  that  the  interest  of  the  Gov- 
ernment, which  demands  that  nothing  shall  be  left  undone  which 
can  make  the  soldier  more  efficient  as  a  fighting  unit,  is  para- 
mount. Better  appreciation  of  this  necessity  is  the  basis  of 
the  greater  official  care  given  the  feet  of  the  soldier  in  for- 
eign armies.  It  is  probably  also  generally  true  that  the  regu- 
lation requiring  personal  inspections  of  the  men  is  interpreted 
by  the  majority  as  being  primarily  directed  at  the  detection  of 
certain  contagious  diseases,  and  that  the  coincident  foot  in- 
spection is  relatively  superficial  and  perfunctory.  This  atti- 
tude is  unfortunate,  for  so  long  as  infantry  is  the  backbone  of 
an  army  and  mobility  is  the  most  important  element  in  strategy, 
frequent  careful  inquiry  into  the  condition  of  the  feet,  and  con- 
stant interested  oversight  looking  to  their  continued  welfare, 
are  properly  to  be  required  of  all  officers  concerned.  This 
duty  is  not  always  congenial,  but  the  same  is  true  of  various 
other  necessary  things  connected  with  the  military  service. 


The  Soldier's  Foot  and  the  Military  Shoe  99 

And  probably  no  one  thing  will  more  conduce  to  greater  march- 
ing radius,  the  success  of  tactics,  and  the  delivery  on  the  firing 
line  of  the  maximum  number  of  rifles,  than  will  proper  foot 
care  of  the  command.  Conversely,  neglect  in  this  respect 
produces  a  vast  amount  of  military  inefficiency. 

The  remedying  among  their  men  of  minor  defects,  like 
their  prevention,  largely  falls  within  the  province  of  organi- 
zation commanders  as  being  part  of  the  legitimate  internal  ad- 
ministration of  the  company.  For  this  duty,  no  more  tech- 
nical knowledge  is  required  than  may  properly  be  expected  of 
all  officers  with  foot  troops.  Only  in  relatively  few  cases 
should  the  professional  advice  and  assistance  of  the  surgeon 
be  required,  when  the  company  officer  possesses  and  applies 
a  reasonable  and  proper  knowledge  as  to  foot  conditions  and 
foot  care.  The  view  that  minor  defects  should  habitually  be 
treated  by  the  surgeon  is  quite  incorrect. 

The  officer  in  command  of  foot  troops  is  just  as  directly 
concerned  in  the  maintenance  of  good  condition  of  the  feet  of 
his  men  as  is  the  cavalry  officer  in  the  good  condition  of  the 
feet  of  his  horses.  The  latter  causes  the  hoofs  of  his  animals 
to  be  cleaned  out  and  inspected  twice  daily,  frequently  looks 
into  their  condition  himself,  and  sees  that  any  faulty  shoeing, 
causing  interference,  over-reaching  or  stumbling  is  promptly 
rectified.  No  such  constant  attention  to  the  feet  of  his  men 
would  be  required  of  the  infantry  officer,  but  this  is  no  rea- 
son why  practically  no  attention  at  all  should  be;  given  by  him 
to  this  matter.  Only  a  couple  of  shoe  fittings  and  periodical 
foot  inspections  are  necessary  for  him  in  order  to  keep  his 
command  in  good  marching  condition.  It  is  quite  as  essential  to 
military  efficiency  that  men  shall  be  as  well  shod  as  are  horses, 
and  that  corns  and  other  minor  foot  defects  in  the  former  shall 
be  as  well  prevented  and  intelligently  treated,  under  the  di- 
rection of  company  commanders,  as  in  the  latter.  Nor  is  the 
habitual  advice  and  assistance  of  the  surgeon  and  veterinarian 
necessary  in  either  case. 

If  the  company  commander  gives  due  care  to  the  careful  fit- 
ting to  shoes  of  newly  arrived  recruits,  and  repeats  this  in  a  few 


ioo  The  Soldier's  Foot  and  the  Military  Shoe 

months  when  their  feet  have  altered  in  shape  and  developed 
in  size  and  strength,  as  a  result  of  the  use  of  the  physiological 
army  shoe  and  practice  in  marching  under  burden  carrying,  he 
will  probably  subsequently  need  to  give  his  men  little  further 
attention  in  this  respect  other  than  to  see  that  they  fit  on  and 
draw  the  size  and  width  with  which  they  were  last  fitted,  and 
counteract  the  general  tendency  to  secure  a  shoe  too  small  for 
the  needs  of  the  foot  in  marching. 

But  he  must  verify,  by  frequent  foot  inspections,  the  fact 
that  the  shoes  thus  selected  really  do  fit,  and  at  the  same  time 
he  should  give  such  simple,  common  sense  directions  as  should 
result  in  the  relief  or  removal  of  the  ordinary  foot  defects. 
For  the  making  of  these  foot  inspections,  as  with  the  routine 
examination  of  animals  on  the  picket  line,  the  presence  of  the 
surgeon  and  veterinarian,  as  already  mentioned,  is  unneces- 
sary. Only  in  a  very  few  instances  will  medical  advice  and 
assistance  be  required,  and  these  doubtful  cases  should  be  sent 
to  the  surgeon  for  examination. 

The  necessary  frequency  of  foot  inspections  is  variable  with 
conditions.  In  barracks,  when  men  are  marching  but  little,  one 
such  inspection  every  fortnight  should  meet  all  needs.  But  in 
the  field,  or  when  troops  are  undergoing  hard  marching,  such 
inspections  should  be  made  daily,  that  trifling  defects  and  in- 
juries may  be  given  prompt  attention  and  thereby  prevented 
from  developing  into  matters  of  importance. 

The  time  required  to  make  the  foot  inspection  of  a  com- 
pany is  not  to  exceed  half  an  hour,  and  as  officers  and  men 
become  accustomed  to  the  routine  it  may  be  shortened  to  half 
that  time.  For  two  officers  of  a  company  working  indepen- 
dently, such  an  inspection  is  a  matter  of  only  a  very  few  min- 
utes. Never  under  any  circumstances  does  it  approach  in  du- 
ration the  time  required  for  the  "stables"  held  twice  a  day  by 
a  mounted  command. 

The  inspection  is  made  after  the  feet  have  been  washed ;  in 
many  cases  it  is  combined  with  the  general  inspection  of  the 
person  required  by  regulations.  In  garrison,  the  men  stand  in 
bare  feet  at  the  foot  of  their  bunks  until  the  officer  has  passed 


The  Soldier's  Foot  and  the  Military  Shoe 


101 


Fig.  45 


them  by ;  in  the  field,  they  sit  on  the  ground  in  front  of  their 
tents,  or  at  such  other  convenient  place  as  may  be  required. 
As  the  officer  passes,  accompanied  by 
the  non-commissioned  officer  in  charge, 
he  notes  the  condition  of  the  feet,  es- 
pecially in  regard  to  recent  injury  but 
also  with  reference  to  old  remediable 
defects.  In  case  that  attention  to  the 
feet  is  needed,  he  gives  appropriate  di- 
rections to  the  soldier  in  the  presence 
of  the  non-commissioned  officer,  who 
becomes  responsible  for  their  being  car- 
ried out. 

The  general  condition  of  the  feet  of 
foot  troops  who  have  not  received 
proper  attention  may  be  stated  to  be 
bad.  In  his  analysis  of  the  feet  of  609 
men,  Reno  found  64  men,  or  about  10 
per  cent,  the  condition-  of  whose  feet  he 
was  willing  to  class  as  good.  In  this 
he  was  either  more  fortunate  or  liberal 
than  the  Shoe  Board,  who  did  not  re- 
gard as  being  of  good  character  the  feet 
of  half  that  percentage  in  the  many 
men  it  examined.  He  classified  some  ab- 
normalities found  in  this  series,  which  when  summarized,  gave 
the  following  results : 

Callosities,  cases  (number  in  multiple  callosities  not  given) 81 

Callosities ;  jamming  of  toes 121 

Callosities ;  ingrowing  nails  19 

Callosities ;  jamming  of  toes ;  hammer  toes 31 

Jamming  of  toes • 29 

Jamming  of  toes ;  ingrowing  nails  94 

Ingrowing  nails   23 

Callosities ;  jamming  of  toes ;  bunions  23 

Callosities;   bunions    • 10 

Callosities ;  deformed  nails 3 


A  well  shaped  foot.  The 
vertical  line  is  "Meyer's 
line"  and  is  the  measure- 
ment for  foot  length;  A-B 
is  the  ball  measure;  C-D  is 
the  waist  measure;  E-F  is 
the  high  instep  measure. 


IO2  The  Soldier  s  Foot  and  the  Military  Shoe 

Callosities ;  jamming  of  toes ;  ingrowing  nails  78 

Flat  feet 2 

Total  cases  of  serious  foot  blemish 514 

Beside  the  above  conditions,  the  foot  deformity  known  as 
hallux  valgus  was  so  common  as  practically  to  be  universal  and 
to  a  degree  materially  influencing  marching  capacity.  Com- 
pare Figs.  45  and  46. 

Fig.  46 


Deformities  of  Feet  Resulting  from  Bad  Shoes. 

The  experience  of  the  Shoe  Board  closely  tallies  with  the 
tabulation  by  Reno,  that  more  than  ninety  out  of  every  hun- 
dred enlisted  men  had  foot  defects  which  more  or  less  inter- 
fered with  marching  and  needed  attention  and  rectification. 

There  is  no  question  but  that  the  company  commander  who 
is  fully  appreciative  of  his  duties  and  responsibilities  will  be 
astounded  and  somewhat  dismayed  at  the  results  of  a  care- 
ful and  critical  foot  inspection  of  his  men. 

With  respect  to  the  vast  amount  of  foot  blemish  now  pres- 
ent in  our  army,  all  but  a  very  small  proportion  of  it  is 
removable  by  the  simple  measure  of  selecting  a  shoe  which 
closely  resembles  the  normal  contour  of  the  average  foot,  and 
fitting  it  on  the  latter  with  due  regard  for  proper  length  and 
width.  With  relief  from  harmful  pressure,  corns  and  cal- 


The  Soldier's  Foot  and  the  Military  Shoe  103 

louses,  primarily  developed — but  now  no  longer  needed — as 
protective  agencies,  will  be  largely  cast  off ;  ingrown  nails  tend 
to  straighten  and  cease  to  pain;  hallux  valgus  and  bunions 
begin  to  correct  themselves.  A  few  simple  additional  agen- 
cies, as  later  detailed,  materially  assist  in  this  improvement. 
Such  few  severe  blemishes  as  do  not  yield  are  subjects  for 
the  attention  of  the  surgeon  or  discharge  on  surgeon's  certi- 
ficate of  disability. 

Beside  official  oversight,  the  men  themselves  must  be 
required  to  give  attention  to  their  individual  foot  care.  They 
must  be  required  to  report  foot  injury  without  delay,  and  those 
who  fail  to  do  this  should  be  made  to  march.  In  very  many 
instances,  it  will  be  found  that  the  infantry  soldier  who  lets 
his  feet  get  sore  is  quite  as  much  to  blame  as  the  mounted 
soldier  who  lets  his  horse's  back  get  galled. 

For  their  better  recognition  by  officers  and  non-commis- 
sioned officers  of  the  line,  a  brief  description  of  the  several 
foot  defects  commonly  found  in  soldiers,  with  simple  meas- 
ures for  their  improvement  and  cure,  here  follows. 

Hallux  Valgus. 

This  name  is  given  to  the  common  condition  in  which  the 
great  toe  is  pushed  away  from  its  proper  straight  inner  line 
and  made  to  join  in  its  several  bones,  and  these  with  its  meta- 
tarsal  bone,  at  a  more  or  less  considerable  angle.  It  is  well 
shown  in  Figs.  42,  46  and  47.  It  is  produced  by  shoes  which 
have  an  outward  bend  and  not  a  straight  inner  line  to  the 
last.  If  the  improper  curve  of  the  inner  margin  of  the  sole 
begins  well  back,  the  hallux  valgus  commences  at  the  meta- 
tarso-phalangeal  joint  and  if  the  deviation  is  considerable  a 
bunion  will  probably  result.  If  the  outward  curvature  of  the 
last  begins  well  toward  the  front,  it  is  the  further  bone  in  the 
toe  which  is  bent  away,  while  the  second  bone  remains  in 
nearly  its  proper  alignment;  this  pressure  on  the  side  of  the 
tip  of  the  toe  being  especially  the  cause  of  ingrowing  nail. 
Since  nearly  all  civilian  shoes  of  a  fashionable  type  have  a 
crooked  last,  it  follows  that  hallux  valgus,  of  greater  or  less 


IO4  The  Soldier's  Foot  and  the  Military  Shoe 

degree,  is  present  in  the  vast  majority  of  soldiers.  In  fact,  it 
is  so  common  and  well  established  among  them  that  the  board 
which  devised  the  recent  army  shoe  was  compelled  to  take 
a  certain  degree  of  it  into  consideration  as  being  a  "normal 
abnormality". 

The  degree  of  interference  with  marching  capacity  which 
hallux  valgus  produces,  depends  upon  the  angle  of  deviation 
which  the  everted  toe  makes  with  its  proper  axis.  The  latter 
is  represented  by  the  socalled  "Meyer's  Line",  which  in  the 
normal,  undeformed  foot  starts  from  the  tip  of  the  great  toe 
and  passes  as  a  straight  line  through — and  parallel  with — the 
long  axis  of  the  great  toe  and,  continuing  on,  emerges  from  the 
heel  at  its  central  point.  Such  a  normal  foot  and  line  is  shown 
in  Fig.  45.  This  straight  line,  running  from  toe  to  heel,  in- 
dicates a  vertical  plane  through  which  is  secured  the  strongest 
mechanical  support  to  the  body  weight,  the  most  effective 
thrust  of  the  foot,  and  the  greatest  anatomical  efficiency  of  the 
attached  muscles. 

In  some  cases  of  hallux  valgus,  the  great  toe  may  deviate 
from  its  proper  line  by  an  angle  of  as  much  as  fifteen  or  more 
degrees.  (See  Figs.  43,  46  and  47).  From  this  degree  of 
deformity  there  are  gradations  down  to  a  point  where  the 
divergence  from  normal  is  insignificant  in  its  results.  But  any 
material  deviation  of  the  great  toe  has  a  very  appreciable  in- 
fluence upon  the  strength  of  the  foot — just  as  no  engineer 
would  think  of  expecting  a  bridge  to  have  any  strength  with 
its  trusses  bent  to  form  two  horizontal  planes.  In  this  de- 
formity muscular  strength  is  impaired,  as  considerable  con- 
tractile force  is  wasted  where  the  tendons  concerned  have  to 
pull  around  an  angle ;  the  foot  is  shortened,  since  bending  the 
toe  outward  decreases  the  longitudinal  radius  of  the  foot,  and 
a  certain  amount  of  leverage  is  thereby  lost;  finally,  the 
thrust  of  the  foot  in  moving  the  body  weight  is  thus  made  to 
fall  on  the  inner  margin  of  the  toe  near  its  last  joint — a  region 
never  intended  by  nature  and  mechanically  unfit  to  bear  this 
stress — instead  of  on  the  planter  surface  of  the  last  phalanx 
of  the  great  toe.  A  foot  with  marked  hallux  valgus  must  hence 


The  Soldier's  Foot  and  the  Military  Shoe  105 

be  considered  as  abducted  and  thus  as  a  relatively  weak  foot. 
Besides  these  defects,  a  foot  with  considerable  hallux  valgus 
usually  also  presents  bunions,  corns  and  ingrowing  nails,  as 
the  cause  which  operates  to  produce  the  one  ultimately  tends  to 
produce  the  others. 

The  prevention  of  hallux  valgus  depends  upon  the  use  of  a 
shoe  having  a  sole  with  a  straight  inner  margin.  The  reme- 
dying of  this  condition  is  brought  about  by  the  same  means, 
whereby  the  injurious  pressure  along  the  inside  of  the  great 
toe  is  removed  and  the  latter  is  thus  given  opportunity  by  a 
physiological  shoe  to  return  toward  its  normal  line.  For 
young  men,  whose  bones  are  still  growing  and  who  have  not 
developed  bunions  with  inflamed  joints,  much  improvement 
may  be  expected  in  the  course  of  some  months  under  the  use 
of  the  army  shoe;  but  in  old  soldiers,  permanent  structural 
changes  in  the  foot  have  occurred  and  no  great  return  toward 
normal  is  possible. 

The  army  shoe  is  not  ideal  with  respect  to  the  straightness 
of  its  inner  sole  margin,  but  neither  was  it  intended  to  be.  It 
was  not  made  ideal  for  the  reason  that  the  foot  of  the  aver- 
age soldier  which  it  was  in  practice  to  cover  was  not  per- 
fect in  its  toe  alignment  and  could  not,  in  the  vast  majority  of 
cases,  be  made  so. 

Where  hallux  valgus  has  been  long  continued,  the  joints 
are  so  weakened,  and  the  anatomical  relations  of  the  bones 
and  muscles  are  so  altered,  that  only  very  slight  pressure  is 
needed  to  keep  the  toes  in  their  position  of  deformity.  The 
tension  of  too  tight  or  shrunken  socks  is  often  quite  suffi- 
cient to  accomplish  this,  so  in  attempting  to  remedy  this  de- 
fect attention  must  be  given  to  a  proper  fit  of  the  socks  as 
well  as  of  the  shoes. 

A  condition  of  valgus  or  bending  of  the  little  toe  is  not  un- 
common, and  is  due  to  a  narrow  shoe  the  outer  margin  of  the 
sole  of  which  curves  inward  too  greatly.  It  is  of  less  import- 
ance, as  the  little  toe  is  less  concerned  than  the  great  toe  in 
the  mechanics  of  marching.  The  shape  of  the  new  army  shoe 
permits  of  its  natural  rectification. 


io6 


The  Soldier's  Foot  and  the  Military  Shoe 


Fig.  47 


Bunions. 

These  are  enlarged  bursal  sacs  over  joints,  often  going  on 
to  inflammation.  A  good  example  of  a  bunion  is  shown  in  Fig. 

47.  They  ordinarily  occur  over  the 
second  joint  of  the  great  toe;  less 
often  on  the  third  joint  of  the  little 
toe.  In  a  general  way,  the  condi- 
tion may  be  regarded  as  an  ex- 
treme hallux  valgus  in  which  the 
joint  also  undergoes  an  often  perma- 
nent inflammatory  alteration.  The 
cause  is  shoes  which  are  not  only  too 
narrow  but  are  built  on  a  pointed 
last  in  which  both  the  great  and  little 
toes  are  forced  in  toward  the  center 
of  the  foot.  The  latest  military  shoe 
is  so  shaped  that  it  cannot  cause  bun- 
ions (See  Fig.  34),  and  such  as  are 
seen  in  the  service  have  been  caused 
by  civilian  shoes  or  by  army  shoes  of 
an  older  pattern.  Bunions  may  not 
only  be  very  painful  but  they  accom- 
pany a  deformity  which  anatomically 
weakens  the  foot  and  materially  interferes  with  marching  ca- 
pacity. 

In  this  defect,  the  phalangeal  bone  has  been  pressed  out 
of  the  straight  line  which  it  normally  should  make  with  the 
metatarsal  bone  with  which  it  articulates — instead  of  which 
these  two  bones  meet  at  an  angle,  producing  inequality  of  pres- 
sure within  the  joint  and  causing  the  bones  to  tend  to  absorb 
at  the  points  of  greatest  pressure  and  to  build  up  where  pres- 
sure is  less  than  normal.  This  results  in  alteration  of  joint 
structure ;  while  the  joint  itself,  being  forced  into  undue  promi- 
nence, is  forced  by  the  too  narrow  and  mis-shapen  shoe  into 
becoming  a  point  of  support  for  the  foot  and  body  weight,  and 
constant  pressure  of  the  shoe  and  greater  liability  to  injury  sets 
up  inflammation  in  the  bursal  sac  which,  under  long  use  or 


Hallux    valgus 
and  clubbed  toes. 


nth    bunion 


The  Soldier's  Foot  and  the  Military  Shoe  107 

accidental  injury,  becomes  acute.  In  such  acute  inflammation, 
the  skin  over  the  joint  becomes  red,  tense  and  swollen,  while 
the  joint  region  is  excessively  very  painful  on  use  or  under  pres- 
sure of  the  shoe  upper,  and  the  man  is  unfitted  for  marching. 

Relatively  few  bad  bunions  are  found  in  the  service,  for 
if  severe  they  are  properly  a  disqualification  for  enlistment. 
A  considerable  number  of  small  bunions,  and  a  few  which  are 
inflamed  are,  however,  found. 

In  very  severe  bunions  of  long  standing  the  only  effective 
treatment  is  found  in  a  surgical  operation  requiring  removal 
of  bone  tissue  before  the  toe  can  be  brought  back  into  proper 
line.  Cases  requiring  such  treatment  usually  have  feet  so 
altered  and  weakened  as  to  render  them  unsuitable  for  mili- 
tary service. 

Swollen  and  inflamed  bunions  are  unfit  for  marching  and 
should  receive  the  attention  of  the  surgeon. 

Ordinary  bunions  tend  to  improvement  on  proper  fitting  of 
the  feet  with  the  army  shoe,  since  this  largely  removes  pres- 
sure from  the  swollen  joint  and  affords  space  for  the  distorted 
great  toe  to  return  toward  its  proper  alignment.  The  degree 
of  improvement  depends  upon  the  size  of  the  bunion,  the 
length  of  time  it  has  existed,  and  the  age  of  the  patient.  Small 
bunions  with  young  soldiers  should  give  no  further  trouble 
with  properly  fitting  army  shoes.  Large  bunions  in  old  sol- 
diers will  not  greatly  improve,  since  deformity  of  the  bony 
structure  has  become  permanent ;  the  best  that  can  be  ex- 
pected is  to  keep  them  from  getting  worse  and  put  them  under 
such  conditions  that  they  will  give  no  great  trouble. 

Very  large,  swollen  bunions  greatly  interfere  with  proper 
shoe  fitting,  for  a  shoe  which  does  not  give  painful  pressure 
on  the  bunion  is  usually  too  large  for  the  foot  and  permits  of 
slippage  of  the  foot  in  the  shoe  with  great  liability  to  its  in- 
jury elsewhere.  Very  large  bunions  should  be  cause  for  dis- 
charge of  surgeon's  certificate  of  disability.  With  small  ones, 
the  shoes  selected  should  be  as  loose  as  can  be  comfortably 
worn,  and  in  addition  the  shoes  should  be  effectively  stretched 
over  night  with  a  bunion  stretcher,  after  the  leather  has  been 


io8  The  Soldier's  Foot  and  the  Military  Shoe 


Fig.  48 


Foot  of  a  soldier,  illustrating  flat-foot,  hallux  valgus,  clubbed  toes,  hammer  toe. 


The  Soldier's  Foot  and  the  Military  Shoe  109 

thoroughly  wet,  until  the  shoe  shape  has  been  so  altered  as 
to  take  off  all  pressure  over  the  bunion  area. 

Rubber  spools  and  springs  between  the  toes,  and  other  pat- 
ent devices  to  cause  them  to  spread  and  return  to  their  proper 
alignment,  are  not  necessary  to  the  cure  of  bunions  on  soldiers' 
feet — the  continued  use  of  the  military  shoe,  and  the  pressure 
on  the  foot  and  its  expansion  in  marching,  should  ultimately 
by  themselves  bring  about  good  results. 

Ingrowing  Nails. 

This  is  a  condition  in  which  the  edges  of  the  nail,  curving 
inward,  grow  back  into  the  flesh.  It  usually,  but  not  always, 
occurs  in  the  great  toe.  It  is  often  very  painful,  and  the  con- 
stant irritation  frequently  results  in  repeated  infections  and 
prolonged  suppuration  around  the  matrix  of  the  nail.  Such 
inflammatory  attacks  incapacitate  the  soldier  from  marching. 

This  condition  is  caused  by  shoes  which  are  too  narrow 
across  the  toes.  The  particular  type  of  civilian  shoe  most 
concerned  is  that  with  the  socalled  "spike  toe",  in  which  the 
great  toe  is  pressed  out  of  its  proper  alignment  and  forced 
toward  the  center  of  the  foot.  But  a  broader  shoe,  if  the 
front  of  the  sole  is  cut  away  too  much  on  its  inner  margin, 
may  also  cause  it;  in  this  latter  case,  the  shoe  selected  is  apt 
to  have  been  too  short,  and  the  nail  is  pressed  back  as  well  as 
laterally. 

Most  cases  of  ingrowing  nails  are  promptly  relieved  of 
all  symptoms  and  tend  to  early  cure  by  the  use  of  a  shoe  built 
on  a  last  with  a  fairly  straight  inner  line  and  broad  across  the 
toes.  These  requirements  are  possessed  by  the  army  shoe; 
which  latter  must  also  be  carefully  fitted  to  the  foot  as  to 
length  and  width.  The  pressure  which  is  the  sole  cause  of 
the  trouble  is  thus  removed,  as  is  shown  in  Fig.  34. 

A  small  number  of  ingrowing  nails  require  additional  treat- 
ment for  a  few  days,  consisting  of  trimming  the  nail  and  in- 
serting a  pledget  of  cotton  under  its  offending  edge  to  relieve 
irritation. 

A  few  cases  of  ingrowing  nails  may  have  gone  on  to  a  de- 


I io  The  Soldiers  Foot  and  the  Military  Shoe 

gree  in  which  surgical  treatment,  which  consists  in  cutting  out 
a  segment  of  the  nail  and  the  matrix  from  which  it  grows,  is 
necessary. 

Any  case  of  suppuration  around  a  nail,  because  of  the  dan- 
ger of  infection  which  is  present,  should  be  sent  to  see  the 
surgeon. 

Clubbed  Toes. 

This  is  a  condition  in  which  the  toes  are  so  compressed 
as  to  become  bulbous  and  larger  at  their  ends  than  along  their 
shafts.  It  is  well  shown  in  Figs.  48  and  49.  It  is  produced  by 
the  use  of  pointed  shoes  which  are  too  narrow  across  the  toes, 
though  these  shoes  usually  have  plenty  of  vacant  space  in 
front  of  the  toes,  into  which  space  the  latter  crowd  as  a  result 
of  pressure  behind  and  then  attempt  to  expand  and  adjust  them- 
selves. The  result  of  this  pressure,  if  continued,  is  the  de- 
viation of  the  entire  toes  away  from  their  proper  line  into 
a  condition  of  hallux,  the  compression  of  the  fleshy  parts  of 
the  shafts  of  the  toes  into  approximately  plane  surfaces  where 
they  touch  each  other,  and  such  atrophy  of  muscles  and  loss 
of  power  in  the  foot  as  very  greatly  tend  to  produce  march- 
ing incapacity.  Usually  it  is  the  second,  third  and  fourth  toes 
which  are  affected;  and  a  condition  is  not  infrequently  seen 
in  which  such  pressure  has  resulted  in  the  elongation  and 
projection  of  the  second  toe  for  as  much  as  half  an  inch  in 
front  of  the  great  toe  (See  Fig.  49).  Under  such  conditions, 
the  toes  override  and  practically  become  mere  fleshy  append- 
ages of  the  foot,  the  forward  thrust  of  the  body  in  marching 
practically  depending  upon  the  impetus  given  from  the  ball 
of  the  foot  with  such  assistance  as  may  be  possible  from  a 
coincidently  weakened  great  toe.  With  feet  deformed  in  this 
way,  the  ends  of  the  smaller  toes  are  often  blistered  and  cal- 
loused, the  nails  are  deformed  and  thickened,  a  corn  usually 
forms  over  the  last  joint  of  the  little  toe  and  a  bunion  over 
its  metatarso-phalangeal  joint,  while  one  or  more  soft  corns, 
usually  of  a  very  painful  character,  develop  between  the  com- 
pressed toes.  The  skin  between  the  toes,  kept  soft  and  moist 


The  Soldier's  Foot  and  the  Military  Shoe  in 

Fig.  49 


Highly  deformed  foot  of  the  same  soldier  shown  in  Figs.  42  and  48,  supporting 
full  weight  of  field  equipment,  in  new  military  shoe. 

Note  the  clubbed  second  toe,   hallux  valgus   and  difficulty  in  fitting  which  they 


H2  The  Soldier's  Foot  and  the  Military  Shoe 

by  contact,  becomes  tender,  irritated,  reddened  and  prone  to 
eczematous  trouble.  As  the  average  man  who  wears  his  shoes 
too  tight  is  also  apt  to  select  an  extremely  pointed  pattern 
based  more  upon  prevailing  fashion  than  upon  human  anatomy, 
clubbed  toes  are  ordinarily  found  associated  with  marked  hal- 
Inx  valgus,  painful  bunions,  and  corns  on  the  sides,  ends  and 
tops  of  the  smaller  toes. 

The  prevention  of  clubbed  toes  depends  upon  the  use  of  a 
shoe  of  sufficient  breadth  and  reasonably  approaching  in  shape 
of  sole  the  conformation  of  the  anterior  portion  of  the  nor- 
mal foot,  and  improvement  and  cure  depend  upon  the  same 
factor.  The  new  army  shoe  is  based  upon  a  proper  concep- 
tion of  the  soldier's  foot,  and  its  shape  is  such  that,  if  prop- 
erly fitted,  it  cannot  exert  any  injurious  compression  upon  the 
toes.  (See  Fig.  34).  Free  movement  of  the  latter  within  this 
shoe  is  always  possible.  By  the  continued  use  of  such  a  shoe 
the  feet  of  the  average  soldier,  deformed  in  this  way,  may  be 
expected  to  return  in  time  materially  toward  the  normal.  In 
the  younger  class  of  soldiers  the  affected  toes  will  in  time 
lose  their  angular  appearance,  round  out  in  contour,  and  their 
ends  diminish  in  size,  while  freedom  from  compression  and 
opportunity  for  use  causes  fleshy  development  and  enlarge- 
ment along  the  shaft. 

In  old  soldiers  with  considerable  defect  of  this  nature  much 
of  the  damage  is  permanent,  as  the  bony  framework  has  un- 
dergone definite  changes  and  the  overlying  soft  tissue  is  of 
a  character  that  does  not  permit  of  great  alteration.  But  even 
in  these  cases  the  army  shoe  should  remove  any  cause  for 
discomfort,  and  in  time  permit  of  the  material  development 
and  straightening  of  the  front  of  the  foot. 

Hammer  Toes. 

This  is  a  condition  in  which  the  last  joint  of  the  toe  is  per- 
manently flexed  at  a  right  angle,  so  that  the  tip  of  the  toe 
strikes  the  sole  of  the  shoe  in  walking.  The  condition  is  one 
which  unfits  for  enlistment,  as  the  deformed  position  of  the 
toe  is  such  that  a  sensitive  bearing  surface  is  created  and  dirt 


The  Soldier's  Foot  and  the  Military  Shoe  113 

and  grit  are  apt  to  work  under  the  nail  and  produce  inflamma- 
tion. However,  some  cases  slip  by  recruiting  officers,  and  a 
few  have  undoubtedly  been  developed  in  the  service  as  a 
result  of  the  men  being  allowed  to  select  their  own  shoes. 
The  second  and  third  toes  are  the  ones  usually  affected,  and 
these  also  commonly  present  corns  over  their  last  joints. 
The  condition  is  generally  associated  with  clubbed  toes. 

This  foot  deformity  is  produced  by  too  short  shoes,  where- 
by the  toes  are  pressed  back  and  forced  to  double  up  under 
themselves.  If  this  condition  is  long  continued,  the  toe  as- 
sumes a  bent  position  from  permanent  contraction  of  the  mus- 
cles of  the  sole  of  the  foot.  Adhesions  may  form  within  the 
joint  and  it  may  lose  its  function.  In  the  latter  case,  the  sol- 
dier should  be  discharged.  The  more  severe  cases  should  be 
sent  to  the  surgeon,  who  may  find  it  desirable  to  do  an  opera- 
tion to  lengthen  the  contracted  tendon.  Mild  cases  will  greatly 
improve  and  may  give  no  further  trouble  if  the  soldier  is 
made  to  wear  a  shoe  long  enough  and  broad  enough  to  per- 
mit of  the  return  of  the  toe  to  its  proper  extension  and  ana- 
tomical relation. 

Hammer  toes  are  invariably  caused  by  a  badly  fitting  shoe, 
with  an  improper  shape  of  the  shoe  as  a  minor  contributing 
factor.  They  cannot  be  produced  in  a  shoe  of  the  shape  of 
the  new  military  shoe,  if  the  latter  is  fitted  so  that  a  vacant 
space  of  approximately  half  an  inch  exists  between  the  toe 
of  the  shoe  and  the  toe  of  the  foot  when  expanded  under  the 
entire  weight  of  the  body  and  equipment. 

Flat-foot. 

In  true  flat-foot  the  relations  of  the  skeleton  of  the  foot 
are  altered  and  the  bony  arch  of  the  foot  is  more  or  less  com- 
pletely broken  down.  (See  Figs.  48,  50,  51  and  52).  Where 
it  is  well  developed,  this  condition  is  cause  for  rejection  for 
enlistment,  as  it  is  a  complete  disqualification  for  marching. 
Cases  may,  however,  develop  in  the  military  service,  and  es- 
pecially in  newly  raised  troops,  as  a  result  of  injudicious  march- 
ing when  the  feet  are  not  in  proper  condition  for  it.  But  care 


The  Soldier  s  Foot  and  the  Military  Shoe 


must  be  taken  to  differentiate  between  a  flat-foot  which  is 
real  and  that  which  is  only  apparent,  for  the  negro  race  pre- 
sents a  foot  type  the  arch  of  which  is  flattened  from  the  Cau- 
casian standard  and  yet  does  not  interfere  with  marching.  So, 
too,  there  are  white  individuals  whose  foot  type  is  negroid  in 
character.  There  are  also  others  whose  muscular  development 
of  the  sole  is  so  great  as  almost  to  fill  up  and  obliterate  the 
foot  arch  and  whose  foot-prints  therefore  more  or  less  re- 
semble those  of  flat  feet. 

In  connection  with  this  subject  it  must  be  mentioned  that 
the  common  idea  that  all  pain  in  the  arch  of  the  foot  is  due  to 
flat-foot  is  incorrect,  and  the  cause  of  such  pain  may  be  looked 
for  in  one  of  several  conditions. 


Fig.  50 


Fig.  51 


The  relation  of  the 
astragalus  to  the  os 
calcis  in  the  normal 
foot.  (Whitman.) 


The  relation  of  the 
astragalus  and  os  cal- 
cis in  the  flat  foot. 
(Whitman.) 


True  flat-foot  presents  a  foot  which,  looked  at  from  the 
side,  is  flattened  over  the  instep.  Looked  at  from  in  front, 
the  inner  part  of  the  foot  appears  to  be  sunken  and  the  inner 
ankle  bone  to  be  unusually  prominent,  giving  the  general  im- 
pression of  the  foot  being  everted  outward..  (See  Figs.  48,  50 
and  51).  The  general  impression  of  the  foot  is  that  it  is 
undeveloped  and  somewhat  lengthened.  The  man  will  have  a 
clumsy  gait,  and  if  the  condition  has  long  existed  he  will  be 
knock  kneed  or  have  a  marked  tendency  thereto.  He  will 
complain  of  painful  arches  on  long  standing  or  on  marching, 
and  in  field  equipment  will  usually  break  down  and  fall  out 
after  going  a  very  few  miles.  The  condition  will  be  verified 


The  Soldier's  Foot  and  the  Military  Shoe  115 

by  having  him  step  in  a  basin  of  water  and  then  walk  on  a 
bare  floor,  or  by  sending  him  to  the  hospital  to  have  the  soles 
of  his  feet  inked  and  be  made  to  walk  over  pieces  of  paper. 
The  footprints  in  either  case  will  show  imprint  of  the  whole 
or  greater  part  of  the  foot  arch,  demonstrating — in  connection 
with  the  other  signs — that  the  arch  has  fallen.  Fig.  48  shows  a 
case  of  true  flat-foot,  and  Fig.  52  the  footprint  of  the  same 
soldier.  The  latter  should  be  compared  with  Fig.  15,  which 
shows  a  normal  footprint. 

But  a  stocky,  muscular  foot,  with  a  high  instep  and  thick 
in  vertical  section,  or  which  gives  no  pain  in  marching,  is  not 
true  flat-foot  even  though  the  footprint,  taken  by  itself,  might 
tend  to  indicate  the  contrary.  This  is  an  important  point,  for 
many  soldiers  are  regarded  as  having  flat-foot  who,  in  fact, 
do  not  have  it. 

The  cause  of  flat-foot  is  pressure  from  above,  upon  struc- 
tures of  a  strength  inadequate  to  support  it.  This  pressure  may 
act  quite  rapidly  in  producing  its  results,  or  it  may  extend  over 
considerable  periods  of  time  and  the  flat-foot  finally  produced 
be  of  very  gradual  development.  It  has  already  been  pointed  out, 
in  connection  with  the  anatomy  of  the  foot,  that  the  arch  is 
not  a  rigid  structure  but  is  composed  of  a  number  of  small 
bones  bound  firmly  together  by  ligaments,  mostly  running 
from  front  to  rear,  and  that  these  ligaments  are  reinforced  by 
a  series  of  layers  of  muscles,  similarly  disposed.  Also  that 
the  foot  arch  is  a  "bow  string  arch",  in  which  a  large  part 
of  the  arch  support  is  derived  from  the  tension  of  the  muscles 
attached  to  its  two  ends.  The  arch  is  further  filled  up,  and 
is  thus  in  a  way  buttressed  from  below,  if  these  foot  muscles 
are  well  developed  and  a  reasonable  amount  of  fatty  tissue 
is  present. 

These  muscles  may  be  said  to  be  adjusted  to  bear  a  certain 
stress  and  support  a  certain  weight.  In  the  case  of  a  recruit 
fresh  from  civil  life,  this  weight  may  be  considered  to  be  that 
of  the  body  alone;  and  any  additional  weight,  as  that  of  the 
rifle  and  equipment,  brings  a  strain  on  the  foot  muscles  which, 
without  their  development  and  training,  they  are  not  pre- 


n6  The  Soldier's  Foot  and  the  Military  Shoe 


Flat  foot.     Foot  print  of  the  same  foot  shown  in  Fig.  48. 


The  Soldier's  Foot  and  the  Military  Shoe  117 

pared  adequately  to  support.  The  muscles  then,  like  elastic 
bands,  stretch  under  the  unaccustomed  pressure  until  a  con- 
siderable or  even  the  greater  part  of  the  strain  falls  upon  the 
ligaments.  If  the  ligaments  are  also  weak,  they  too  begin 
to  yield  under  the  strain  and  the  arch  tends  to  collapse  under 
the  pressure  from  above.  In  other  words,  to  prevent  flat- 
foot,  muscular  tension  on  the  sole  of  the  foot  ought  exert 
a  force  greater  than — or  at  least  counterbalance — that  of  the 
weight  to  be  borne. 

Now,  if  an  untrained  recruit — and  particularly  one  in  whom 
a  previous  sedentary  occupation  has  not  resulted  in  fair  foot 
development — be  suddenly  made  to  carry  the  military  burden 
and  undertake  a  hard  march,  this  physiological  balance,  as 
adjusted  for  different  conditions,  may  be  disturbed,  and  the 
feet  suffer  an  injury  which  may  be  permanent.  It  is  par- 
ticularly important  to  remember  this  fact  at  recruit  depots 
and  in  the  raising  of  volunteer  troops,  when  there  is  every 
incentive  to  transform  the  civilian  into  the  soldier  in  the  short- 
est possible  time — for  misdirected  energy  in  this  respect  may 
result  in  promptly  spoiling  many  of  what  might  otherwise  be 
developed  into  excellent  soldiers. 

Flat-foot  may  also  develop  in  soldiers  who  have  had  well 
developed  feet,  but  whose  foot  muscles  have  weakened  and 
thinned  as  a  result  of  prolonged  non-use;  as,  for  example, 
long  confinement  to  hospital  with  typhoid  fever  or  other  wast- 
ing disease.  Such  cases  may,  in  convalescence,  rapidly  take 
on  body  weight  without  compensating  muscular  development, 
and  to  take  such  men  off  sick  report  so  that  they  can  accom- 
pany their  organizations  on  a  march  is  to  subject  them  to  the 
same  risks — or  even  greater  ones — as  attend  the  marching  of 
recruits  under  such  conditions. 

Or  flat-foot  may  result  from  the  stretching  of  the  muscles, 
due  to  their  fatigue  from  over  marching  or  long  standing. 

Also  wearing  shoes  with  too  high  heels  causes  flat-foot, 
since  the  more  the  heel  is  raised  above  the  ground  by  the  shoe 
the  more  the  weight  of  the  body  and  burden  is  shifted  to- 


n8  The  Soldier's  Foot  and  the  Military  Shoe 

ward  the  front  part  of  the  foot  arch,  which  is  weaker  and  less 
adapted  to  resist  pressure. 

Another  point  is  that  where  the  shoe  is  too  narrow  and  the 
toes  are  compressed,  and  especially  where  this  is  combined 
with  a  faulty  shape  of  the  shoe  producing  hallux  valgus,  the 
normal  support  of  the  body  is  altered.  To  better  maintain  its 
equilibrium  under  such  conditions,  the  toes  must  be  turned 
out  in  an  exaggerated  position  of  "attention"  in  standing,  and 
in  marching  the  man  tends  to  walk  splay-footed.  (See  Fig. 
23).  In  both  instances,  the  weight  of  the  body  falls  directly 
on  the  inner  part  of  the  ankle  joint,  and  over  the  arch  of 
the  foot  at  its  weakest  point.  This  directly  tends — especially 
in  persons  with  undeveloped  feet,  those  recovering  from  pro- 
longed illness  and  those  untrained  to  carry  heavy  burdens — to 
cause  the  foot  arch  to  spread  and  produce  flat-foot. 

In  bare  feet,  or  in  sufficiently  broad,  low-heeled  shoes, 
however,  the  toe  tends  to  point  directly  forward,  or  even  in- 
ward, in  walking,  as  in  the  case  of  the  naked  savage,  non- 
shoe  wearing  child  or  moccasined  Indian,  (see  Figs.  19  and 
22)  in  which  classes  flat-foot  rarely  if  ever  occurs.  Here  the 
adducted  great  toe  supports  the  anterior  inner  pillar  of  the  foot 
arch  and  keeps  the  foot  from  rolling  inwards.  This  position 
throws  the  body  weight  on  the  outer  part  of  the  ankle,  away 
from  the  arch  and  directly  over  a  part  of  the  foot  intended  to 
support  weight  and  which  lies  everywhere  in  direct  contact 
with  the  ground  for  that  purpose.  (See  Fig.  5).  Narrow, 
pointed  shoes  thus  greatly  favor  flat-foot;  broad  physiological 
shoes  materially  tend  to  prevent  it  in  spite  of  the  opposite  im- 
pression of  the  wearer,  unaccustomed  to  broad  shoes,  that  his 
foot  is  breaking  down.  The  truth  of  this  contention  can  be 
verified  by  any  one  by  standing  with  the  feet  in  the  position 
of  "attention",  and  then  with  the  heels  and  toes  of  the  two  feet 
in  contact,  or  at  least  parallel. 

The  prevention  of  flat-foot  therefore  resolves  itself  into 
three  considerations ;  first,  that  a  weak  foot  shall  not  be  over- 
loaded or  overtaxed;  second,  that  the  weak  foot  shall  be  so 
strengthened  as  to  be  able  to  support  any  military  burden,  un- 


The  Soldier's  Foot  and  the  Military  Shoe  119 

der  any  military  conditions,  without  injury;  third,  that  the 
shoe  worn  shall  be  broad  and  sensible.  , 

The  first  merely  implies  the  exercise  of  ordinary  common 
sense  in  not  letting  the  recruit  with  any  tendency  to  weak 
feet,  or  the  recently  debilitated,  carry  the  full  equipment  over 
long  distances  until  after  a  suitable  course  of  training. 

The  second  requirement  implies  development  of  foot 
strength  in  such  men  by  a  course  of  training  which  includes 
much  marching  with  gradual  progressive  increase  in  the  dis- 
tance to  be  marched,  and  weight  of  the  equipment  to  be  car- 
ried, until  the  maximum  of  both  is  reached. 

For  men  with  apparent  tendency  to  breaking  down  of  the 
foot  arch,  special  foot  exercises,  particularly  intended  to  de- 
velop the  muscles  of  the  sole  of  the  foot,  should  be  carried  out 
in  addition  to  practice  in  marching.  These  foot  exercises  in- 
clude : 

(a)  Rising  high  on  the  toes ;  then  slowly  lowering  the  body 
until  the  heel  rests  on  the  ground ;  then  repeating  the  above 
movements.     Probably  five  minutes  of  this,  both  morning  and 
night,  will  be  sufficient.     In  this  exercise,  the  man  must  rise 
as  high  as  possible  on  his  toes;  since  in  rising  only  part  way 
the  muscles  of  the  calf  are  chiefly  concerned  and  not  those  of 
the  foot  which  it  is  desired  to  develop. 

(b)  Climbing  up  and  down  flights  of  stairs  is  good  exer- 
cise to  strengthen  the  foot  muscles. 

(c)  An  excellent  exercise  is  to  have  the  man  sit  in  a 
chair,  shoes  off.    Resting  his  heel  against  the  floor,  he  forcibly 
bends  and  inverts  the  foot.    This  exercise  can  be  made  much 
more  severe  in  the  gymnasium  or  barracks  by  hooking  the 
toes  over  the  handle  of  a  light  chest  weight  or  exerciser. 

All  these  special  exercises  should  be  continued  and  progres- 
sively increased  until  the  muscles  concerned  feel  quite  tired. 
Usually  exercising  from  five  to  seven  minutes  twice  daily  is 
long  enough  at  the  outset.  The  special  exercises  will  need  to 
be  continued  for  several  weeks,  the  time  necessarily  depending 
on  the  degree  of  foot  defect  and  the  rapidity  with  which  it  is 


120  The  Soldier's  Foot  and  the  Military  Shoe 

corrected.  The  man  should  endeavor  to  keep  his  toes  turned 
to  the  front  in  marching. 

Above  all  things,  patent  devices  intended  to  support  the 
foot  arch  should  be  avoided  by  soldiers  with  a  tendency  to 
weak  or  flat  feet.  These  arch  supports  may  give  a  sensation 
of  relief  when  worn,  but  they  relieve  the  symptom  of  discom- 
fort at  the  expense  of  making  the  underlying  cause  of  the 
latter  much  worse,  for  they  splint  and  restrict  the  use  of  the 
very  muscles  upon  the  development  and  strengthening  of 
which  the  regaining  and  preservation  of  the  foot  arch  depends. 
Such  arch  supports  are  impossible  of  use  in  military  march- 
ing, and  once  habituated  to  them,  the  wearer's  feet  are  so 
much  weakened  that  he  is  helpless  without  them. 

For  weak  arches,  and  threatened  flat  feet,  a  "valgus  wedge" 
may  be  of  service  and  will  do  no  harm  as  a  temporary  cor- 
rective. This  consists  in  raising  the  inner  border  of  the  sole 
and  heel  by  a  piece  of  leather  one-eighth  of  an  inch  thick  at 
its  inner  aspect  and  getting  thinner  as  it  gets  nearer  the  cen- 
ter. This  throws  the  weight  away  from  the  foot  arch  on  to 
the  outer  border  of  the  foot  and  also  causes  the  toes  to  be 
pointed  more  to  the  front  in  walking.  As  the  muscles 
strengthen,  the  leather  strips  are  reduced  in  thickness  until 
the  normal  sole  and  heel  are  reached. 

Severe  cases  of  flat  feet  should  be  discharged  from  the 
service.  While  their  condition  can  undoubtedly  be  improved, 
the  prospects  of  complete  return  to  a  foot  arch  suitable  for 
marching  are  too  doubtful  to  make  worth  while  the  expenditure 
of  the  time  and  effort  which  must  necessarily  be  involved. 

Since  many  recruits  are  enlisted  who  have  weak  feet,  and 
since  the  tendency  of  much  early  military  training  is  to  result 
in  the  excessive  use  of  such  feet  unprepared  to  stand  any 
severe  strain,  it  would  seem  desirable  for  organization  com- 
manders to  lay  special  stress  on  foot  exercises  for  these  men 
new  to  the  service.  Many  gymnasia  have  foot  exercising  ap- 
paratus, which  at  present  are  not  properly  utilized. 


The  Soldier's  Foot  and  the  Military  Shoe  121 

Painful  Arches. 

This  condition  is  found  in  flat  feet  and  also  those  in  which 
there  is  beginning  breaking  down.  It  is  also  found  in  feet 
with  perfectly  normal  arches  but  in  which  the  sole  muscles  are 
weak,  either  from  lack  of  development  or  atrophy  due  to  sick- 
ness, or  in  which  they  are  not  yet  adapted  to  the  increased 
strain  due  to  carrying  an  unaccustomed  burden.  Further, 
perfectly  normal  and  strongly  developed  feet,  when  put  into 
broader  and  looser  shoes  than  those  to  which  they  are  habit- 
uated, develop  pain  and  the  sensation  of  breaking  down  on 
marching — due  to  the  stretching  of  muscles  and  ligaments  be- 
yond the  limits  to  which  they  were  accustomed,  under  the 
forcible  foot  expansion  resulting  from  marching  and  burden 
carrying.  This  is  particularly  true  of  those  who  have  been 
wearing  shoes  built  on  crooked  or  pointed  lasts,  in  which  the 
foot  is  accustomed  to  support  from  the  fixed  point  provided 
by  the  back  of  the  shoe  in  the  rear  and  similar  points  in  front 
on  the  inner  aspect  of  the  great  toe,  and  outer  aspect  of  the 
little  toe,  caused  by  the  forcing  of  these  toes  toward  the  cen- 
ter and  into  a  space  too  narrow  for  the  foot. 

The  pain,  of  an  aching  character,  is  usually  referred  to  the 
region  of  the  high  instep  and  extends  through  the  foot  to  the 
sole  under  the  foot  arch.  It  will  be  present  in  greater  or  less 
degree  in  probably  a  majority  of  soldiers  who  have  been  fit- 
ted with  the  broad  army  shoe  and  then  shortly  afterward 
given  hard  marching  under  field  equipment.  Ordinarily,  such 
pain  signifies  nothing  and  wears  away  in  a  very  few  days  as 
soon  as  the  foot  muscles  and  ligaments  stretch  and  adapt 
themselves  to  the  new  conditions  of  greater  foot  expansion. 
Sometimes  lowering  the  heel  by  taking  off  one  thickness  of 
leather  will  give  relief,  as  the  center  of  gravity  is  thus  shifted 
nearer  the  heel  and  less  weight  is  thereby  thrown  on  the 
weaker  fore-foot. 

Whenever  arch  pain  persists  over  a  week  or  more,  it  is 
well  to  give  the  foot  a  careful  examination,  as  it  may  be  that 
the  arch  is  really  breaking  down  in  the  production  of  true  flat- 
foot  or  that  teno-synovitis  is  present. 


122  The  Soldier's  Foot  and  the  Military  Shoe 

Recruits,  newly  enlisted  volunteers,  and  militia  wearing  the 
army  shoe  only  occasionally,  will  be  the  ones  chiefly  liable  to 
painful  arches  of  this  character. 

Fracture  of  Metatarsals. 

This  injury  is  not  common  in  our  army.  In  the  German 
army,  with  its  heavy,  clumsy  footwear,  it  is  said  to  cause 
from  20  to  40  admissions  to  sick  report  out  of  each  1,000  ad- 
missions. It  is  most  common  in  young  soldiers,  and  apparently 
is  the  result  of  sudden  jar  from  stepping  on  a  stone  or  ine- 
quality in  the  road,  especially  with  a  sole  which  has  worn  thin. 
The  most  frequent  location  of  the  fracture  is  the  head  of  the 
2nd,  3rd  or  4th  metatarsal  bone.  The  diagnosis  can  rarely 
be  made  with  certainty  without  the  use  of  the  X-ray.  The  in- 
jury of  course  incapacitates  for  marching. 

Painful  Heel. 

This  condition  has  no  visible  signs  and  its  cause  is  not 
well  understood.  It  is  not  uncommon  in  persons  who  are  much 
on  their  feet,  as  policemen  and  letter  carriers,  and  may  be 
found  among  soldiers.  It  seems  to  be  due  to  slight  but  con- 
tinued bruising  of  the  heel  from  repeated  impact  against  a 
possibly  unfitting  surface.  Such  cases  can  usually  be  relieved 
by  wearing  heavy  wool  socks,  by  having  rubber  heels  put  on 
their  shoes,  or  by  very  cautiously  cutting  out  a  little  of  the 
calfskin  heel  lining  immediately  under  the  painful  area,  tak- 
ing pains  to  carefully  smooth  off  the  cut  edges.  Sometimes 
a  slight  loosening  or  wrinkling  of  the  sock  lining  of  the  heel 
of  the  shoe  is  at  fault,  and  this  possibility  should  be  investi- 
gated. 

Anterior  Metatarsalgia. 

This  is  a  painful  condition  usually  -referred  to  the  joint 
at  the  base  of  the  fourth  toe.  It  is  not  common  in  the  service, 
and  would  be  looked  for  chiefly  in  recruits  and  officers  rather 
than  old  soldiers.  It  is  often  associated  with  a  depressed  arch 
and  in  feet  with  relatively  little  muscular  development.  There 
is  usually  a  painful  callous  on  the  ball  beneath  the  affected 


The  Soldier's  Foot  and  the  Military  Shoe  123 

joint.  The  cause  is  not  definitely  known ;  but  a  shoe  in  which 
there  is  too  much  "spring" — in  which  the  toes  are  turned  up 
by  a  sole  with  too  much  curve — and  in  which  there  is  a  low- 
ering of  the  insole  in  the  center  with  raising  of  the  lateral 
edges  to  form  a  shallow  trough  in  which  the  heads  of  the  in- 
terior metatarsal  bones  are  jammed  together  in  standing  or 
walking,  seems  to  be  largely  at  fault.  If  shoes  wear  away  in 
the  center,  the  sinking  of  the  sole  makes  a  concavity  into 
which  the  ball  of  the  foot  sinks  and  becomes  more  or  less 
convex  and  compressed  toward  the  center.  The  pain  is  pecu- 
liar in  that  it  is  spasmodic,  and  usually  comes  on  and  subsides 
suddenly.  It  may  come  on  after  the  march  is  over,  or  even 
during  the  sleeping  hours.  The  pain  often  begins  as  a  ting- 
ling, burning  sensation.  The  cases  should  usually  be  sent  to  see 
the  surgeon.  Prevention  and  treatment  are  found  in  the  use 
of  shoes  with  broad,  flat  soles,  and  in  the  measures  recom- 
mended for  strengthening  the  muscles  and  arch  of  the  foot. 

Teno-Synovitis. 

This  is  a  painful,  inflammatory  condition  of  muscle  ten- 
dons, due  to  an  injury  of  some  sort.  The  tendons  so  affected 
usually  lie  close  to  the  surface.  In  the  foot,  those  most  liable 
to  injury  lie  on  the  top  over  the  instep,  where  protective  fat, 
muscle  or  other  tissue  is  scanty  and  the  tendons  are  liable 
to  injury  from  blows  or  from  pressure  between  the  shoe  above 
and  the  hard,  unyielding  bone  below.  The  tendon  most  liable 
to  this  injury  is  the  one  running  across  the  instep  and  especial- 
ly concerned  in  lifting  the  great  toe.  The  pain  is  apt  to  come 
on  after  hard  marching  and  often  in  soldiers  who  have  prev- 
iously had  no  foot  trouble.  It  may  be  referred  to  the  foot  arch 
and  may  at  first  arouse  suspicion  of  weak  arches.  There  is, 
however,  no  flattening  of  the  feet,  and  the  latter  are  usually 
strong  and  well  developed.  The  foot  presents  no  physical 
change  of  appearance,  but  there  is  tenderness  on  touch  along 
part  or  nearly  all  of  the  tendon  concerned.  Sometimes  a  grat- 
ing sensation  may  be  felt  along  the  course  of  the  tendon  af- 
fected. A  little  rest  usually  puts  the  feet  in  good  condition 


124  The  Soldier's  Foot  and  the  Military  Shoe 

again,  but  some  cases  last  longer.  The  cause  is  probably  us- 
ually due  to  too  tight  lacing,  with  unnecessarily  severe  pres- 
sure on  the  tendons  below.  A  knot  in  the  shoe  lace  may  cause 
it.  The  relatively  small  number  of  eyelets  in  the  military 
shoe  may  perhaps  favor  it,  as  not  equally  distributing  pressure 
across  the  foot  but  causing  it  to  become  greater  than  is  de- 
sirable at  the  several  points  crossed  by,  and  immediately  un- 
der, the  shoe  laces.  Prevention  consists  in  lacing  the  shoe 
tightly  enough  to  keep  it  firmly  in  position,  but  not  so  tight 
as  to  work  an  injury  to  the  foot  structures  lying  below.  The 
shoe  lace  used  should  be  broad  and  flat,  and  attention  given  to 
preventing  it  from  rolling  into  a  cord  with  use.  The  relief  of 
pressure  on  painful  areas,  by  suitably  adjusted  strips  of  blan- 
ket inserted  between  the  tongue  and  lacing,  should  be  of  much 
value.  Frequent  bathing  the  foot  in  cold  water  is  useful  as 
both  a  preventive  as  well  as  curative  measure. 

Blisters  and  Abrasions. 

These  are  usually  caused  by  friction,  less  often  by  impact, 
and  in  some  few  instances  by  pressure.  In  a  blister,  the  irri- 
tation causes  a  local  flow  and  collection  of  serum  between  the 
inner  and  outer  layers  of  the  skin,  lifting  up  the  latter.  The 
size  of  the  blister  depends  on  the  area  of  the  skin  sufficiently 
irritated  to  result  in  such  outward  evidence  of  injury.  Some 
may  be  very  large,  especially  those  of  the  heel.  The  locality  of 
blisters  depends  upon  the  particular  divergence  of  the  shoe 
from  the  shape  of  the  foot  it  is  intended  to  cover.  Thus  the 
same  shoe  might  cause  different  injuries  in  two  feet  of  the 
same  size  but  different  conformation.  Blisters  are  painful,  as 
the  serum  which  has  flowed  into  the  local  tissues  causes  pres- 
sure and  irritation  of  the  sensitive  nerve  filaments.  This  pain 
is  greatly  increased  by  continuation  of  the  rubbing  or  strik- 
ing which  caused  the  blister  in  the  first  place,  and  may  very 
frequently  become  so  great  as  to  incapacitate  the  sufferer  from 
marching.  Blisters  are  also  liable  to  become  infected,  and  in 
such  cases  may  become  the  starting  point  from  which  the 
deeper  structures  of  the  foot  and  leg  subsequently  become  dan- 


The  Soldier's  Foot  and  the  Military  Shoe  125 

gerously  infected  and  perhaps  loss  of  limb  or  even  life  results. 

The  prevention  and  cure  of  blisters  implies  the  avoidance 
or  removal  of  their  cause.  Their  presence  is  evidence  of 
either  locally  ill  fitting  shoes,  or  of  areas  as  yet  untoughened 
by  lack  of  sufficient  previous  contact  with  an  opposing  sur- 
face. Treatment  of  blisters  thus  includes  measures  directed 
to  both  the  shoe  and  foot.  The  cause,  whatever  it  be,  must  be 
sought  out  and  removed.  For  instance,  the  shoe  may  be  gen- 
erally too  large,  which  defect  can  perhaps  be  largely  cor- 
rected by  the  wearing  of  two  pairs  of  socks ;  more  snug  lac- 
ing may  be  necessary  to  prevent  recurrence  of  a  heel  blister; 
a  blister  on  the  outside  of  the  little  toe  may  call  for  the  use 
of  the  shoe  stretcher  over  that  area;  a  blister  over  the  top 
of  the  base  of  the  great  toe  might  be  due  to  a  hard  wrinkle 
in  the  leather,  due  to  wetting,  which  should  have  been  soft- 
ened and  oiled  after  drying,  etc.,  etc.  So  long  as  the  exciting 
cause  remains  unremedied,  blisters  will  tend  to  recur. 

Blisters  are  treated  by  pricking  them  with  a  clean  needle 
and  gently  pressing  out  their  contents.  Under  no  circum- 
stances should  the  raised  cuticle  be  torn  away.  The  blister 
proper,  and  any  reddened  area  around  it,  is  then  covered  with 
a  piece  of  zinc  oxide  plaster,  as  supplied  by  the  Medical  De- 
partment. This  plaster  does  not  stick  well  to  a  moist  skin, 
so  the  latter  should  be  wiped  dry ;  the  plaster  also  does  not  stick 
well  unless  applied  hot,  so  a  match  is  burned  close  to  the  ad- 
hesive surface  until  the  latter  shows  small,  sticky  bubbles. 
The  plaster  is  then  pressed  down  smoothly  over  the  blister, 
where  the  raised  epidermis  usually  soon  grows  back  in  posi- 
tion. Ordinarily  the  soldier  can  continue  marching,  under  pro- 
tection of  the  plaster,  without  pain,  and  recovery  is  complete 
in  a  couple  of  days ;  as  in.  many  instances  only  a  slight  amount 
of  protection  to  the  affected  area  is  necessary  and  a  little  im- 
mobilization and  relief  from  friction  is  all  that  is  required.  It 
has  frequently  been  seen  where  a  soldier,  whose  shoes  were 
bad  fits,  completed  a  march  of  several  days  without  difficulty 
though  his  feet  ultimately  had  to  be  largely  covered  with  such 
plaster  strips. 


126  The  Soldier's  Foot  and  the  Military  Shoe 

In  a  few  instances,  however,  the  blister  becomes  infected 
and,  instead  of  healing,  goes  on  to  suppuration.  This  is  in- 
dicated by  plain,  puffiness  and  redness  in  the  vicinity  of  the 
blister.  The  presence  of  suppuration  may  be  determined  by 
gently  raising  one,  edge  of  the  plaster  when,  if  pus  be  pres- 
ent, it  can  be  pressed  out.  If  suppuration  exists,  the  man 
should  see  the  surgeon  without  delay  and  have  the  abrasion 
disinfected  and  dressed. 

Abrasions  are  simply  blisters  from  which  the  cuticle  form- 
ing the  outer  wall  has  been  torn  off.  They  are  very  painful 
from  access  of  the  air  and  material  of  the  sock  to  the  bared 
nerve  filaments  and  thus  readily  incapacitate  for  marching. 
They  are  always  infected,  but  small  superficial  abrasions  us- 
ually readily  heal  under  the  zinc  oxide  plaster,  which  is  itself 
mildly  germicidal. 

The  large  abrasions  would  usually  suppurate  under  plas- 
ter; and  such  cases  should  see  the  surgeon,  who  will  ordin- 
arily cause  a  disinfectant  solution,  and  gauze  dressing  to  be 
applied. 

If  zinc  oxide  plaster  be  not  available,  the  blister  may  be 
evacuated,  greased  and  pressed  back  into  position,  where  at- 
mospheric pressure  tends  to  hold  it.  Often  two  or  three  turns 
of  a  light  bandage  over  the  blister  may  be  used  in  the  shoe, 
and  at  night  its  bandaging  is  of  course  practicable.  But  where 
bandaging  is  employed,  care  should  be  taken  lest  the  thick- 
ness of  the  protective  material  applied  over  the  affected  area 
increase  the  already  excessive  pressure  over  that  part.  To 
apply  a  wad  of  anything,  as  cloth  or  cotton,  over  a  blister  will 
certainly  make  it  worse. 

Painting  abrasions  with  a  five  or  ten  per  cent  solution  of 
chromic  acid  is  a  treatment  used  in  the  French  and  German 
armies.  A  five  per  cent  solution  of  picric  acid,  such  as  is  used 
in  treating  burns,  may  also  be  employed  in  the  treatment  of 
ordinary  abrasions ;  in  fact,  the  manner  in  which  cuticle  is 
raised  and  lost  in  blisters  and  abrasions  is  much  like  that  in 
burns  of  the  first  degree. 

In  a  general  way,  it  may  be  said  that  blisters  and  abrasions, 


The  Soldier's  Foot  and  the  Military  Shoe  127 

callosities  and  corns  indicate  the  existence  of  harmful  pres- 
sure by  a  shoe  which  is  too  small  over  the  area  in  which  these 
blemishes  occur.  These  points  of  irritation,  if  sought  for,  can 
always  be  found  and  appropriate  measures  for  removal  can 
usually  be  carried  out  with  more  or  less  complete  success. 

But  also  occasionally  a  shoe  which  is  too  large  over  the 
region  of  the  blemish  permits  the  occurrence  of  an  injurious 
friction  which  is  the  cause  of  the  trouble.  This  local  excess 
in  size  may,  however,  have  its  cause  in  an  attempt  to  relieve  the 
foot  from  pressure  elsewhere.  Such  a  cause  was  common  in 
former  army  shoes  which  were  too  low  over  the  instep,  where- 
by the  soldier  in  order  to  get  a  shoe  high  enough  for  his  in- 
step was  forced  to  take  a  shoe  too  long  for  his  foot  and  too 
large  for  his  heel. 

In  determining  a  cause  for  the  above  foot  blemishes,  it  is 
thus  necessary  to  give  due  consideration  to  the  two  apparently 
dissimilar  factors  of  tightness  and  looseness. 

Blisters  on  top  of  the  toes  are  usually  due  to  pressure  from 
the  toe  cap  being  too  low  or  too  stiff.  The  judicious  use  of 
the  shoe  stretcher  may  remove  this  condition,  though  what  is 
probably  needed  is  a  larger  shoe.  Blisters  on  the  ends  of  the 
toes  are  evidence  that  the  shoe  is  too  short  or  that  it  was  not 
sufficiently  tightly  laced — in  either  case  the  remedy  suggests  it- 
self. Blisters  on  the  sides  of  the  little  or  big  toe  usually  indicate 
that  the  shoe  is  too  narrow ;  the  remedy  being  either  use  of 
the  shoe  stretcher  or  a  greater  width.  Foot  blisters  sometimes 
occur  along  the  marginal  lines  where  the  outer  and  inner 
aspects  of  the  foot  come  in  contact  with  the  shoe  insole.  These 
are  usually  due  to  defect  of  construction  causing  a  poor  fit 
between  the  shoe  insole  and  upper,  by  which  one  or  both  sides 
of  the  foot  extend  over  an  open  space  between  the  insole  and 
upper,  forming  an  inequality  in  the  shoe  surface  on  which  the 
foot  bears.  Similarly,  ridges  may  be  present  in  these  regions, 
due  to  the  insole  curling  up  along  its  edges  as  a  result  of  wet- 
ting and  subsequent  shrinking  and  warping.  The  first  condi- 
tion is  due  to  careless  manuacture  and  inspection  of  the  shoe, 
and  is  perhaps  best  met  by  the  soldier  by  the  use  of  heavier 


128 


The  Soldier's  Foot  and  the  Military  Shoe 


socks.  The  second  is  due  to  either  poor  material,  bad  work- 
manship or  lack  of  care  of  the  shoe.  The  best  remedy  is  to 
adjust  the  shoe  on  an  iron  last  so  that  the  latter  comes  in  con- 
tact with  all  parts  of  the  offending  ridges,  and  pound  the  latter 
down  flat  with  a  hammer. 

Heel  blisters  are  due  to  a  shoe  not  being  properly  laced 
up  or  to  a  bad  sock.  The  remedies  for  these  are  obvious. 
They  are  also  due  to  shoes  being  too  long,  or  not  fitting  suffi- 
ciently snugly  over  the  instep  and  around  the  ankle.  Better 
selection,  or  the  use  of  a  cloth  pad  under  the  lacing,  will  pre- 
vent bad  results  from  these  conditions. 

Fig.  53  With  the  few  men  whose  large 

feet  and  slender  ankles  render  shoe 
fitting  difficult,  and  who  are  thus 
obliged  to  use  somewhat  too  loose 
shoes  in  marching,  the  French  army 
marching  strap  (See  Fig.  53)  may  be 
used  to  give  a  more  snug  fit  over 
the  instep  and  above  the  heel  and  pre- 
vent the  shoe  from  slipping  up  and 
down  and  chafing  the  back  of  the 
foot.  In  the  absence  of  a  strap,  any 
suitable  material  capable  of  produc- 
ing sufficient  tension  may  be  used 
for  this  purpose. 

Blisters  and  callosities  develop 
over  the  bottom  of  the  sole  or  heel 
from  inequalities  due  to  various 
causes.  One  of  these  may  be  warping  of  the  sole  of  the  shoe 
in  drying  after  wetting,  in  which  case  little  can  be  done  in  the 
way  of  remedy  except  the  use  of  heavier  socks  and  efforts  to 
hammer  the  sole — after  wetting — flat  on  an  iron  last ;  if  these 
measures  are  unsatisfactory  the  shoes  should  be  discarded.  An- 
other cause  is  the  wearing  of  socks  with  holes  or  darns,  the 
remedy  for  which  is  obvious.  Again,  a  sock  may  wrinkle  into  a 
fold  during  the  march,  or  gravel  or  sand  work  into  the  shoe; 
under  such  conditions  the  man  should  pull  his  sock  tight  or 


Marching  strap  of  the 
French  Army.  (From  Journal 
of  the  Royal  Army  Medical 
Corps.) 


The  Soldier's  Foot  and  the  Military  Shoe  129 

take  off  and  clean  out  his  shoe  at  the  next  hourly  halt,  or  be  en- 
couraged to  fall  out  and  do  this  at  once  on  the  march  if  the  dis- 
comfort is  more  than  trifling.  Corns  also  form  on  the  ball  of 
the  foot  through  unduly  high  heels  throwing  the  weight  too 
much  forward  and  bringing  excessive  pressure  over  this  point. 

Blisters  are  often  caused  by  tender  feet,  the  skin  of  which 
is  untoughened  and  unaccustomed  to  withstand  friction  and 
pressure  as  a  result  of  lack  of  practice  in  marching.  Areas  of 
skin  of  this  nature  are  brought  into  hurtful  contact  with  the 
sole  when  narrow  shoes  are  exchanged  for  wider  ones  and 
the  bottom  of  the  foot  is  thus  allowed  fully  to  flatten  out.  Too 
narrow  shoes  also  cause  foot  blisters,  as  they  compress  the  sole 
into  ridges  upon  which  the  wearer  of  such  shoes  is  constantly 
walking. 

The  soldier  is  expected  to  have  two  pairs  of  serviceable 
shoes  with  him  in  the  field  at  all  times.  It  is  desirable  to  have 
these  shoes  alternated  in  use  day  by  day.  Even  though  these 
shoes  be  of  the  same  last  and  be  stamped  with  an  identical  size 
and  letter,  and  thus  supposedly  the  same,  still  they  will  not 
feel  exactly  the  same  to  the  foot.  The  reason  is  that  the 
bulk  of  lasts  varies  slightly  with  variation  in  atmospheric 
moisture;  leather  cut  from  different  skins,  or  parts  of  the 
same  skin,  stretches  unequally ;  and  shoes  pulled  from  the  lasts 
earlier  shrink  more  than  shoes  left  on  longer.  It  thus  hap- 
pens that  exchange  of  shoes  apparently  identical  may  give 
relief  to  sore  places  by  transference  of  painful  pressure  to 
other  less  sensitive  parts. 

Corns. 

These  are  localized  callosities  of  the  skin  of  the  foot  re- 
sulting from  continued  injury  by  ill  fitting  shoes.  They  have 
their  starting  point  in  a  blister  or  abrasion,  in  the  repair  of 
which  nature  guards  against  repetition  of  such  injury  by 
thickening  the  skin  with  a  stouter,  harder  horny  layer.  If 
the  local  irritation  and  injury  continues,  whether  from  chaf- 
ing, pressure  or  impact,  the  outer  layer  of  the  skin  continues 
to  thicken  locally  until  its  sufficiency  for  protective  purposes  is 


130  The  Soldier's  Foot  and  the  Military  Shoe 

exceeded;  while  pressure  of  this  horn-like  layer,  and  its  root- 
like  prolongations  extending  deeper  into  the  flesh,  cause  much 
pain  in  the  little  nerves  lying  underneath.  This  pain  may  be 
very  considerable,  and  quite  sufficient  to  very  materially  dim- 
inish or  even  destroy  marching  capacity. 

The  cause  of  corns  is  found  in  badly  fitting  shoes,  either 
those  being  worn  at  present  or  which  have  been  worn  at  some 
time  in  the  past.  In  the  army,  the  latter  is  more  usually  the 
case,  and  a  fair  proportion  of  the  corns  noted  in  soldiers  are 
inheritances  from  the  use  of  the  mis-shapen  civilian  styles  of 
shoes  worn  before  enlistment.  In  determining  the  matter  of 
the  prevention  and  treatment  of  corns  in  any  given  individual, 
the  question  of  whether  the  cause  still  remains  or  is  no  longer 
existent  needs  always  to  be  determined  in  relation  to  both 
treatment  and  cure.  If  it  remains,  it  must  be  removed,  either 
by  judicious  use  of  the  shoe  stretcher  in  the  removal  of  local 
pressure,  or  by  at  once  discarding  such  shoes  as  are  not  sus- 
ceptible of  suitable  improvement.  It  is  useless  to  expect  to 
cure  corns  while  their  cause  is  permitted  to  remain. 

Constant  attention  to  corns  will  largely  bring  relief  from  the 
pain  and  annoyance  which  they  cause.  External  corns,  after 
softening  by  soaking  the  foot  in  warm  soap  suds,  may  be  care- 
fully pared  down  several  times  a  month — but  great  care  should 
be  taken  not  to  draw  blood  in  cutting  down  the  corn,  as  these 
little  wounds  in  this  region  are  apt  to  become  dangerously  in- 
fected and  have  not  rarely  caused  serious  illness  and  death. 
If  such  a  little  injury  is  inflicted,  it  is  usually  sufficient  to  wash 
away  the  blood  and  smear  a  very  little  corn  salve  or  corn 
collodion  on  the  wound,  or  cover  it  well  with  foot  powder  and 
a  bit  of  zinc  oxide  plaster  or  clean  cloth.  But  cutting  corns 
brings  only  temporary  relief  and  does  not  cure  the  trouble. 
Soft  corns,  which  are  those  located  between  the  toes,  cannot 
well  be  thus  trimmed  or  pared.  They  require  the  application 
of  medicine  to  kill  and  soften  the  corn  tissue,  so  that  the  latter 
may  readily  come  away  without  pain.  The  following  combina- 
tions are  very  effective  in  assisting  in  the  removal  of  both 
soft  and  hard  corns  and  callouses : 


The  Soldier's  Foot  and  the  Military  Shoe  131 

CORN  COLLODION. 

Salicylic  Acid 1 1  parts 

Extract  of   Cannabis   Indica   2  parts 

Alcohol    10  parts 

Flexible  collodion,  enough  to  make  a  total  of  100  parts 

The  materials  for  the  above  are  supplied  by  the  Medical 
Department.  If  necessary,  the  cannabis  indica  may  be  left  out. 
The  solution  is  inflammable  and  should  be  kept  away  from 
lighted  matches,  cigars,  cigarettes,  etc.  It  evaporates  rapidly 
if  open  to  the  air,  and  hence  the  bottle  should  be  kept  tightly 
corked  except  when  directly  in  use.  No  great  amount  of  the 
solution  is  needed,  and  a  small  bottle  of  about  one  ounce 
should  be  enough  to  treat  a  couple  of  dozen  cases.  To  apply 
it,  a  bit  of  cotton  is  twisted  around  the  end  of  a  match  or 
splinter,  dipped  in  the  solution,  and  used  to  mop  off  the  corn 
and  the  skin  in  its  immediate  vicinity. 

Another  excellent  corn  medicine  is  composed  as  follows : 

CORN  SALVE, 

Salicylic  Acid  40  parts 

Vaseline    30  parts 

Lanolin     30  parts 

This  makes  a  fairly  stiff  ointment.  For  soft  corns,  it  is 
simply  smeared  over  the  corn  between  the  toes.  In  hard  ex- 
ternal corns  and  callouses,  it  is  smeared  over  the  corn  and 
for  about  an  eighth  of  an  inch  beyond  the  margin  of  the  lat- 
ter, and  the  whole  is  covered  and  kept  from  being  wiped  off 
by  a  strip  of  zinc  oxide  plaster. 

Commercial  corn  plasters  are  usually  merely  felt  rings 
which  are  made  to  adhere  to  the  skin  around  the  corn  and 
give  comfort  by  removing  painful  pressure.  One  or  ^  two 
brands  are  medicated  so  that  while  giving  relief  from  pain 
they  assist  in  the  removal  of  the  corn.  They  are  not  supplied 
by  the  Medical  Department  and  have  no  greater  merit  than  the 
corn  salve  and  corn  collodion  already  mentioned. 

The  best  way  to  remove  corns  is  as  follows : 

I.     (a)    Wash  the  foot  thoroughly  at  bed  time;  then  soak 


132  The  Soldier's  Foot  and  the  Military  Shoe 

it  for  at  least  ten  minutes  in  hot  soap  suds.     The  corn  then 
becomes  soft  to  the  touch  and  whitish  in  appearance. 

(b)  Wipe  the  foot  and  corn  dry. 

(c)  Paint  the  entire  corn,  and  for  at  least  an  eighth  of  an 
inch  around  it,  with  several  coats  of  the  corn  collodion  already 
mentioned,  and  let  it  dry. 

Or  apply  the  corn  salve,  covering  the  corn  and  salve  with 
zinc  oxide  plaster. 

2.  Repeat  the  procedure  given  in   (a),   (b)   and  (c)  on 
the  following  night;  previously  removing  any  plaster   from 
the  foot. 

3.  Repeat  the  procedure  given  in  (a),  (b)  and  (c)  again 
the  following  night. 

4.  On  the  fourth  night  the  corn  should  present  a  dead, 
whitish  appearance  after  washing  the  foot. 

Now  take  the  back  of  the  point  of  a  knife  and  slide  it  un- 
der the  loosened  dead  skin  around  the  margin  of  the  corn. 
Work  around  the  corn,  prying  it  loose  from  the  foot  but  tak- 
ing great  care  not  to  cut  its  attachments  and  prolongations  in- 
to the  flesh.  In  this  way,  a  corn  may  be  lifted  entire  out  of 
its  position  and  a  cure  at  once  follow ;  but  if  the  attachments 
of  the  corn  are  cut  through  and  not  pulled  out,  return  of  the 
corn  is  almost  certain  to  occur.  The  object  is  to  pull  away 
in  one  piece  all  the  thickened  tissue  down  to  the  "quick", 
but  without  causing  bleeding.  If  cut  away  piecemeal,  the 
corn  will  probably  return. 

In  very  large  corns  with  much  hard  tissue,  it  may  be 
necessary  to  continue  the  treatment  given  in  (a),  (b)  and  (c) 
for  more  than  three  nights.  Occasionally  five  or  six  nights 
are  necessary.  Sometimes  it  is  well  to  pare  away  a  very  thick 
corn  or  callous,  so  that  the  medicine  can  strike  into  the  roots 
better.  No  effort  should  be  made  to  take  out  the  corn  until 
it  appears  dead  and  peels  off  from  the  foot  with  little  difficulty. 

If  it  appears  that  the  corn  has  not  been  completely  re- 
moved, treatment  should  be  renewed  in  a  few  days.  To  do 
it  immediately  may  make  the  foot  sore.  Sometimes  several 
treatments  are  necessary  to  get  rid  of  a  corn. 


The  Soldier's  Foot  and  the  Military  Shoe  133 

This  treatment  is  not  of  itself  painful,  but  it  hardens  the 
corn  and  thus  makes  it  more  uncomfortable  until  removed. 
On  pulling  the  corn  away,  it  leaves  a  bared  area  which  is 
somewhat  sensitive  for  about  a  day.  For  these  reasons,  the 
removal  of  corns  should  be  accomplished  prior  to,  rather 
than  during,  a  march. 

Callouses,  wherever  located,  are  treated  like  corns.  Very 
large  ones,  which  usually  occur  under  the  ball  of  the  foot,  are 
sometimes  best  removed  by  the  surgeon's  knife.  But  men 
with  feet  as  badly  calloused  as  this  are  usually  unfit  to  be  sol- 
diers. 

No  corn  can  be  permanently  cured  if  the  causes  which 
first  produced  it  are  allowed  to  continue.  The  latter  must  be 
remedied  at  the  time  the  corn  is  removed,  or  a  new  corn  will 
soon  be  produced.  A  shoe  which  once  produced  a  corn  should 
be  discarded,  unless  it  can  be  stretched  as  to  no  longer  press 
or  chafe  the  former  corn  area. 

Sweaty  Feet. 

There  is  a  condition  of  the  feet,  known  as  bromidrosis 
or  sweaty  or  stinking  feet,  which  is  quite  common  among  sol- 
diers. In  this  condition  the  feet  sweat  profusely,  and  the 
secretion  rapidly  decomposes  and  is  very  foul  smelling  and 
offensive.  The  skin  of  the  feet  so  affected,  especially  on  the 
soles  and  between  the  toes,  becomes  soft,  whitish  and  dead 
looking,  like  that  on  a  washerwoman's  hands.  It  rubs  off 
easily,  and  blisters  and  abrasions  are  apt  to  form.  The  af- 
fected area  often  assumes  a  mottled  appearance,  and  in  old 
severe  cases  it  is  reddish,  congested  and  angry  looking.  An 
eczematous  condition  is  not  infrequently  present. 

A  soldier  with  this  condition  is  very  liable  to  break  down 
from  foot  injury  in  the  field,  and  in  garrison  he  is  a  nuisance 
to  the  unfortunate  co-sharers  of  his  squad  room.  Frequent 
washing  of  the  feet  only  temporarily  removes  the  stinking  se- 
cretions and  does  not  reach  their  cause. 

The  treatment  is  simple  and  is  usually  effective.  The  feet 
are  bathed  and  carefully  dried.  The  whole  affected  area  is 


134  The  Soldier's  Foot  and  the  Military  Shoe 

then  carefully  painted  over  with  a  cotton  swab  dipped  in  the 
following  solution : 

Commercial  Formalin  (40%  solution  of  Formaldehyde)   10  parts 

Water    90  parts 

This  solution  is  allowed  to  dry  on.  If  the  feet  begin  to 
burn,  the  excess  of  the  solution  is  washed  off.  Care  must  be 
taken  to  keep  it  out  of  fissures  and  abrasions,  or  much  pain 
will  be  caused.  The  treatment  hardens  and  practically  tans 
the  superficial  layers  of  the  skin,  and  reduces  the  amount  and 
alters  the  character  of  the  secretions  of  the  offending  sweat 
glands.  Applications  are  usually  made  every  other  day,  and 
half  a  dozen  applications  usually  suffice  to  cause  a  cure. 

During  the  treatment,  the  feet  are  washed  twice  daily, 
the  official  foot  powder  furnished  by  the  Medical  Department 
is  very  freely  used,  and  clean  socks  are  worn. 

Other  treatments  for  this  condition  are  the  use  of  potas- 
sium permanganate  solution,  i-'iooo  strength,  in  which  the 
feet  are  soaked  daily.  Sometimes  finely  powdered  alum  is 
dusted  into  the  socks. 

In  the  British  army,  the  soldier  with  sweaty  feet  is  sent 
to  hospital  with  his  footwear  for  24  hours.  The  socks  are 
soaked  an  hour  in  1-2000  bichloride  of  mercury  solution,  then 
rinsed  and  washed.  The  shoes  are  painted  inside  with  a  10% 
solution  of  salicylic  acid  in  alcohol.  The  feet  are  washed,  dried, 
painted  with  the  same  solution  and  put  in  clean  socks.  The 
whole  process  with  respect  to  the  foot  and  shoe,  which  is  really 
their  thorough  disinfection,  is  repeated  on  the  following  morn- 
ing. 

Fissures. 

In  a  few  instances,  men  will  show  cracks  or  fissures  of  the 
skin  between  the  toes  and  in  the  folds  of  the  skin  of  the  latter. 
These  fissures  are  usually  quite  painful,  and  sometimes  tend 
to  bleed  readily.  They  are  usually  caused  as  a  result  of  un- 
accustomed tension  of  the  skin  following  the  putting  of  men 
with  compressed  and  contracted  feet  into  broad  sensible  shoes 
allowing  the  normal  foot  expansion.  This  condition  is  us- 


The  Soldier's  Foot  and  the  Military  Shoe  135 

ually  temporary,  and  dusting  with  foot  powder  suffices ;  but 
sometimes  touching  the  fissures  with  silver  nitrate  stick  hast- 
ens recovery. 

There  is  another  form  of  fissure  seen  in  an  eczematous 
condition  of  the  feet.  The  cure  depends  on  the  cure  of  the 
eczema,  and  the  man  should  be  sent  to  see  the  surgeon. 

The  Toe  Nails. 

The  toe  nails  should  be  trimmed  every  ten  days  or  two 
weeks.  They  should  be  cut  squarely  across,  as  to  cut  them 
away  around  the  corners  favors  ingrowth  of  the  nails.  Mis- 
shapen and  clubbed  nails,  if  very  thick,  should  be  pared  down. 

When  the  shoes  are  too  short  and  the  toes  are  doubled  back 
on  themselves,  or  where  the  toe  cap  is  so  low  as  to  press  upon 
the  top  of  the  toe,  bruises  around  and  under  the  nail  are  very 
liable  to  occur.  Large  blood  blisters  may  make  their  appear- 
ance under  the  nails,  which  after  some  weeks  drop  off,  leav- 
ing a  new  nail  which  is  usually  rough,  thickened  and  distorted. 

Cleanliness  of  the  Feet. 

The  maintenance  of  a  reasonable  degree  of  cleanliness  is 
the  first  and  most  important  factor  in  the  care  of  the  feet. 
Without  it,  the  skin  of  the  feet  tends  materially  to  break  down, 
with  the  formation  of  blisters  and  abrasions,  in  the  presence 
of  an  irritating  combination  of  dirt,  dead  epithelium,  sebace- 
ous secretion  and  sweat ;  these  latter  substances  undergoing 
an  offensive  putrefaction  through  the  action  of  the  hurtful 
bacteria  which  thrive  in  such  material. 

This  necessary  cleanliness  can  be  accomplished  by  means 
of  a  daily  foot  bath,  in  which  the  foot  is  thoroughly  washed 
with  tepid  water  and  a  little  mild  soap.  No  great  amount  of 
water  is  necessary  for  this  purpose.  In  the  field,  streams  or 
bodies  of  water  are  usually  available  for  this  purpose;  but  a 
canteen  full  of  water,  poured  on  a  poncho  which  has  been 
spread  over  a  slight  depression  scraped  in  the  ground  and 
thereby  forms  a  watertight  foot  bath,  is  quite  sufficient.  In 
the  absence  of  even  that  amount  of  water,  quite  good  results 


136  ,          The  Soldier's  Foot  and  the  Military  Shoe 

can  be  obtained  by  thoroughly  wiping  off  the  foot,  especially 
between  the  toes,  with  a  wet  handkerchief  or  the  end  of  a  towel 
moistened  with  a  few  spoonfuls  of  water. 

It  is  probably  better,  in  the  field,  not  to  use  warm  water  for 
foot  baths.  Cool  water  seems  better  to  allay  the  sensation 
of  heat  and  irritation  of  the  feet  resulting  from  their  forcible 
impact  on  the  road  for  the  many  thousands  of  times  required 
in  even  an  ordinary  day's  march.  Cool  water  does  not  seem 
to  soften  the  skin  as  much  as  does  hot  water,  which  latter  ef- 
fect is  undesirable.  For  the  latter  reason,  no  more  soap  than 
is  necessary  to  cleanse  the  feet  should  be  used.  After  wash- 
ing, the  feet  should  be  carefully  dried. 

Generally  speaking,  troops  in  the  field  should  wash  their 
feet  and  change  their  socks  as  soon  as  possible  after  arriving 
in  camp ;  they  may  have  no  opportunity  later. 

Use  of  Foot  Powder. 

The  foot  powder  supplied  by  the  Medical  Department  has 
the  following  formula : 

Salicylic  Acid  3  parts 

Powdered   Starch 10  parts 

Powdered  Talcum    87  parts 

This  powder  is  mildly  antiseptic  and  thus  healing  and 
deodorant;  it  exerts  a  somewhat  astringent  and  drying  in- 
fluence, while  it  produces  a  slippery  surface  of  the  skin  less 
liable  to  chafe  against  the  sock.  It  comes  in  half  pound  cans, 
with  sprinkler  tops,  for  garrison  use;  and  in  similar  quarter 
pound  cans  for  field  use.  In  garrison,  one  of  these  cans  should 
be  in  every  squad  room,  and  in  the  field  there  should  be  two 
to  each  platoon. 

No  great  amount  of  this  powder  is  required  at  one  time, 
but  the  whole  surface  of  the  foot  should  be  lightly  dusted  over, 
with  a  greater  amount  sifted  in  between  the  toes. 

It  should  be  applied  immediately  after  the  feet  have  been 
washed,  dried  and  received  any  other  attention  necessary. 


The  Soldier's  Foot  and  the  Military  Shoe  137 


CHAPTER  VII. 
THE  SOCK. 

No  discussion  of  the  care  of  the  feet  is  complete  without 
some  consideration  of  the  sock,  of  which  the  Quartermaster's 
Department  furnishes  three  kinds. 

Of  these,  one  is  made  of  cotton  with  linen  heels  and  toes. 
This  sock  is  thin  and  has  little  substance  and  does  not  furnish 
much  of  a  cushion  for  the  foot;  its  non-conducting  material 
and  tight,  smooth  weave  are  such  as  not  to  conduct  perspi- 
ration readily  away  from  the  skin,  which  is  thus  kept  moist; 
unless  an  excellent  fit,  it  tends,  especially  when  damp,  to  roll 
into  hard  wrinkles  which  shortly  produce  blisters.  This  sock 
is  quite  comfortable  during  warm  weather.  It  may  be  safely 
used  for  light  duty,  but  is  unsuitable  for  use  in  marching  by 
the  average  man. 

The  light  wool  sock  supplied  to  the  soldier  is  woven  of 
equal  parts  of  wool  and  cotton.  Its  substance  is  about  twice 
that  of  the  cotton  sock,  while  its  looser  mesh  and  softer  ma- 
terial renders  it  more  comfortable  to  the  foot  than  the  former. 
Perspiration  is  readily  taken  up  from  the  skin  and  transmit- 
ted by  its  fibres  to  the  outside  of  the  sock  where  it  is  more 
readily  evaporated.  In  marching,  it  tends  to  stretch  and  ac- 
commodate itself  to  the  foot  rather  than  to  roll  into  wrinkles. 
For  the  average  man,  it  is  the  best  sock  to  use  in  marching  in 
all  weather  except  that  well  below  freezing.  But  there  are  a 
few  soldiers,  especially  those  with  sweaty  feet,  who  claim  that 
the  wool  in  it  irritates  their  skin  and  makes  them  uncomfort- 
able. This  sock,  rather  than  the  cotton  one,  should  habitually 
be  worn  when  shoes  are  fitted,  so  as  to  make  sure  that  a  suffi- 
ciently large  size  suitable  for  marching  is  secured. 

The  quartermaster's  heavy  woolen  sock  is  made  of  pure 
wool.  It  has  all  the  virtues  of  the  light  wool  sock,  but  is  too 
warm  for  the  use  of  the  average  man  in  hot  weather,  though 


138  The  Soldier's  Foot  and  the  Military  Shoe 

very  excellent  during  cold,  stormy  weather.  However,  not  a 
few  old  soldiers  prefer  to  use  this  sock  for  marching  at  all 
times.  Its  bulk  within  the  shoe  is  about  twice  that  of  the 
light  wool  sock,  which  fact  must  be  taken  into  account  in  fit- 
ting shoes  for  use  in  cold  weather.  Ordinarily,  an  increased 
allowance  of  about  a  half  size  in  length  and  two  letters  in 
width  will  be  needed  when,  this  sock  is  to  be  worn. 

Whatever  be  the  kind  of  sock  selected  for  use,  it  is  of  es- 
sential importance  that  it  should  fit  the  wearer.  If  too  large, 
it  forms  folds  which  are  certain  to  cause  blisters  and  abra- 
sions. If  too  small,  it  is  not  only  uncomfortable  but  causes 
tension  on  the  toes  which  presses  them  together  out  of  their 
proper  alignment  and  has  a  constant  tendency  to  produce  hal- 
lux  valgus,  clubbed  toes  and  ingrowing  nails.  With  men 
whose  feet  have  been  deformed  and  weakened  by  bad  shoes, 
the  tension  of  too  small  socks  can  press  them  into  improper 
shape  almost  as  badly  as  ill  fitting  shoes.  The  thicker  the  sock, 
the  greater  the  tension  which  it  can  exert  on  an  enclosed  foot ; 
hence  the  special  importance  of  carefully  fitting  the  thicker 
wool  socks  which  should  be  used  in  marching.  Moreover,  if 
the  sock  be  too  small,  the  tension  favors  rapid  wearing  through, 
especially  on  the  heel  and  toes. 

There  are  five  sizes  of  socks  issued,  viz.  from  9^  to  11^2. 
The  addition  of  a  size  12  would  be  desirable.  The  size  marked 
on  the  sock  indicates  its  foot  length  in  inches  when  the  sock  is 
new  and  is  flattened  laterally  from  heel  to  toe.  The  cubic 
capacity  of  the  sock  is  based  on  the  average  foot  in  civil  life. 
But  the  soldier's  foot  is  broader  and  more  muscular,  and  the 
stocking  to  be  selected  for  him  must  usually  allow  for  slight 
stretching  as  to  width  by  a  little  apparent  excess  as  to  length. 
Hence  a  man  with  a  foot  iol/2  inches  in  length  will  usually 
require  a  size  n  sock.  But  the  sock,  unlike  the  shoe,  is  not 
a  rigid  foot  covering  but  is  capable  of  some  expansion  and 
very  considerable  contraction.  All  socks  tend  to  shrink  on 
washing;  this  is  not  great  with  the  cotton  sock,  but  is  very 
considerable  in  socks  of  part  or  all  wool,  and  especially  where 
the  latter  are  subjected  to  considerable  rubbing,  and  parti- 


The  Soldier's  Foot  and  the  Military  Shoe  139 

cularly  to  boiling,  in  the  process  of  washing.  Thus  a  sock 
quite  large  enough  for  the  wearer  when  drawn  may  ulti- 
mately so  contract  in  size  as  to  become  unfit  for  his  use  in 
marching.  For  this  reason,  an  originally  good  measurement 
cannot  be  depended  upon  to  furnish  a  permanently  good  fit  in  a 
marching  sock. 

The  use  of  socks  with  holes,  or  darned  socks,  should  be 
strictly  prohibited  in  marching.  Both  are  extremely  liable  to 
produce  blisters  and  abrasions.  Even  an  apparent  trifling 
defect  in  the  sock,  especially  over  the  heel,  may  cause  serious 
foot  trouble. 

It  has  been  advised  to  rub  the  inside  of  the  sock  with  soap 
before  marching;  this  undoubtedly  reduces  friction  and  its 
dangers,  but  the  alkali  in  the  soap  softens  the  outer  layer 
of  the  skin  and  tends  to  cause  it  to  break  down  much  more 
readily. 

Some  soldiers  grease  their  socks,  or  accomplish  the  same 
result  by  rubbing  the  feet  with  a  candle,  unsalted  beef  fat  or 
vaseline.  There  is  no  objection  to  this  practice,  which  un- 
doubtedly reduces  friction  and  the  corresponding  liability  to 
foot  injury. 

But  the  best  thing  to  use  for  this  purpose  is  the  regula- 
tion foot  powder,  of  which,  after  the  foot  has  been  well  dusted, 
a  little  may  be  sprinkled  into  the  sock  itself.  This  powder 
not  only  reduces  friction,  but  also  exerts  a  disinfectant,  pre- 
servative and  curative  action  on  the  skin. 

It  is  absolutely  necessary  that  the  socks  used  in  marching 
be  clean.  Nothing  more  conduces  to  tender  feet  than  do  dirty 
socks,  in  the  filth  and  sweat  of  which  hurtful  bacteria  multi- 
ply rapidly.  On  the  march,  a  clean  pair  of  socks  must  be  put 
on  daily.  The  best  time  for  this  is  of  course  after  the  soldier 
washes  his  feet  on  reaching  camp.  At  least  one  extra  pair  of 
good  socks  must  be  carried  on  the  soldier's  person  in  the  field, 
and  two  pairs  would  be  better.  As  they  are  light,  the  extra 
weight  to  be  carried  is  a  matter  of  no  significance. 

Ordinarily,  the  soldier,  after  washing  his  feet,  should  at 
once  wash  the  socks  he  has  taken  off.  Only  a  cupful  of 


140  The  Soldier's  Foot  and  the  Military  Shoe 

water,  if  the  latter  be  scarce,  is  necessary  for  this  purpose, 
improvising  a  wash  basin  from  the  poncho  as  described  un- 
der cleanliness  of  the  feet.  After  washing,  and  rinsing  out 
any  remaining  soap,  the  socks  are  dried  in  the  sun,  before  the 
fire  or  by  hanging  up  during  the  night.  In  the  morning  they 
are  dry  and  ready  to  go  in  the  pack  for  use  at  the  day's  camp. 

If  socks  cannot  be  washed,  they  can  at  least  be  changed, 
the  dirty  socks  dried  in  the  sun  and  thoroughly  beaten  and 
worked  with  the  hands  to  remove  dirt  and  hardness  before 
being  put  back  in  the  pack.  This  very  materially  assists  in 
their  purification  and  renders  them  less  irritating  to  the  feet 
when  next  worn. 

Some  part  of  the  sock  will  always  be  in  contact  with  the 
same  part  of  the  shoe,  and  the  areas  thus  exposed  to  friction 
are  the  first  to  wear  through.  Shoes  which  are  too  loose  tend 
to  wear  out  socks  rapidly.  Changing  socks  from  one  foot  to 
another,  by  creating  new  areas  of  contact,  will  delay  their 
wearing  out. 

The  life  of  a  good  fitting  light  wool  sock,  in  a  good  fitting 
shoe,  is  probably  about  75  to  100  road  miles,  or  about  a  week's 
wear  in  constant  marching  under  ordinary  conditions.  But 
where  the  feet  are  frequently  wet  the  socks  will  rub  through 
much  sooner. 


The  Soldier's  Foot  and  the  Military  Shoe  141 


CHAPTER  VIII. 
THE  CARE  OF  THE  SHOES. 

It  is  highly  important,  in  preventing  foot  injuries,  that  a 
good,  well  fitting  shoe,  once  secured,  shall  be  kept  in  good 
condition.  This  can  be  accomplished  with  a  little  attention. 

The  leather  of  shoes  which  are  put  away  without  use  in 
dry  weather  tends  to  become  hard  and  wrinkled.  Shoes  which 
are  being  kept  for  marching  should  therefore  be  worn  now 
and  then;  and  if  not  sufficiently  supple,  lightly  rubbed  over 
with  the  neatsfoot  oil  supplied  by  the  Quartermaster's  De- 
partment. This  oil  is  the  natural  oil  of  the  animal  and  is 
free  from  the  acids  and  other  substances  deleterious  to  leather 
found  in  waxes  and  greases  of  other  kinds. 

In  damp,  hot  weather,  as  in  the  tropics,  shoes  rapidly  be- 
come covered  with  mould,  which  soon  destroys  the  life  of 
the  leather  and  weakens  and  rots  it.  Under  such  conditions, 
the  mould  must  frequently  be  thoroughly  brushed  off  and  the 
shoes  dried  out  and  the  remaining  spores  or  seeds  of  the 
mould  killed  by  exposure  to  the  sun.  Rubbing  with  neatsfoot 
oil  also  tends  to  keep  down  the  mould. 

Shoes  which  have  been  wet  must  not  be  put  away  in  that 
condition,  as  the  leather  will  shrink  out  of  its  original  shape 
into  one  no  longer  following  the  conformation  of  the  foot  of 
the  wearer;  while  hard  wrinkles  are  also  formed  which  are 
apt  to  cause  blisters  and  excoriations,  especially  over  the  toes. 
This  possible  shrinkage  has,  by  test,  been  found  to  amount  to 
approximately  three-quarters  of  an  inch  in  the  upper  of  the 
soldier's  shoe.  Wet  shoes  should  therefore  be  carefully  dried 
out ;  but  this  drying  should  not  be  too  rapid  or  it  will  harden 
the  leather,  and  hence  care  should  be  used  if  the  shoes  are 
being  dried  in  the  sun  or  before  a  fire. 

When  nearly  dry,  the  shoe  should  be  thoroughly  brushed 
or  rubbed  to  remove  all  dirt  and  supple  the  leather.  If  there 


142  The  Soldier's  Foot  and  the  Military  Shoe 

is  any  tendency  to  stiffness  of  the  leather  when  completely  dry, 
it  should  be  rubbed  again  and,  if  necessary,  wiped  off  with  a 
slightly  oiled  cloth. 

Salt  water  and  alkali  water  rot  the  leather  and  stitching, 
especially  the  latter  which  soon  breaks.  Shoes  soaked  in  such 
water  should  be  well  washed  in  fresh  water  to  dissolve  out 
and  remove  the  mineral  as  soon  as  possible,  and  then  treated 
like  an  ordinary  wet  shoe. 

In  the  absence  of  the  neatsfoot  oil  supplied  by  the  Quar- 
termaster's Department,  men  sometimes  rub  bacon  rind  over 
their  shoes  to  grease  them.  If  this  is  necessary,  the  bacon 
rind  must  be  soaked  in  several  changes  of  water  for  several 
hours  to  dissolve  out  the  contained  salt.  But  bacon  fat  used 
for  this  purpose  soon  grows  rancid  and  bad  smelling,  and  at- 
tracts flies  in  warm  weather.  Unsalted  beef  tallow  from  the 
company  kitchen  is  also  good  for  this  purpose ;  or  vaseline, 
lanolin,  or  even  castor  oil,  obtained  from  the  Medical  Depart- 
ment, may  be  effectively  employed. 

In  prolonged  marching,  the  inside  of  shoes  is  apt  to  become 
dirty  and  sweat  soaked.  Hence,  in  addition  to  the  daily  use 
of  clean  socks,  it  is  well  occasionally  to  wipe  out  the  inside 
of  the  shoes  with  a  damp  cloth  or  sponge,  and  thus  remove 
accumulations  of  dirt  and  sweat. 

Strong,  serviceable  and  broad  shoe  lacings  must  be  kept  in 
the  shoes  at  all  times.  Broken,  knotted  shoe  laces  are  apt  to 
cause  chafing  over  the  instep.  In  the  military  shoe,  snug  lac- 
ing is  absolutely  necessary  to  hold  the  shoe  in  its  proper  rela- 
tion to  the  foot  and  keep  it  from  slipping  around  and  thus 
producing  blisters,  especially  over  the  heel.  An  extra  pair 
of  shoe  laces  should  habitually  be  carried  on  the  march.  In 
emergency,  the  lacings  of  the  breeches  legs  may  be  used  as 
shoe  laces;  but  as  they  are  round  and  small,  they  may  cause 
injury  to  the  parts  with  which  they  come  into  contact. 

Many  soldiers,  if  left  to  themselves,  do  not  lace  up  their 
shoes  completely,  either  through  carelessness  or  broken  shoe 
laces.  This  must  be  prevented  by  appropriate  orders  and 


The  Soldier's  Foot  and  the  Military  Shoe  143 

inspection  at  formations.  A  badly  laced  shoe  on  a  march  will 
almost  certainly  cause  foot  injury. 

In  repairing  military  shoes,  care  must  be  taken  that  the 
man,  particularly  if  of  short  stature,  does  not  have  the  heels 
built  up  to  a  height  greater  than  that  in  the  original  shoe. 
Such  high  heels  of  course  alter  the  center  of  gravity  of  the 
body  and  materially  diminish  facility  for  marching.  A  low 
heel  is  necessary  for  proper  marching. 

Heel  nails  sometimes  work  up  and  protrude  inside  the 
shoe.  They  are  easily  gotten  at  in  this  region,  and  may  be 
pounded  flat  with  a  hammer,  gun-butt,  bayonet  or  smooth 
stone. 

In  shoes  which  have  been  half  soled,  the  new  soles  are 
tacked  on  with  nails,  the  points  of  which  may  ultimately  work 
in  and  project  inside  of  the  shoe  (See  Fig.  54).  In  the  ab- 
sence of  a  hammer  and  iron  last  with  which  to  flatten  them 
and  turn  back  their  points,  a  small  round  stone  may  be  held 
for  this  purpose  over  the  nail  inside  the  shoe,  while  the 
leather  of  the  upper  over  this  stone  is  smartly  struck  with  a 
piece  of  wood  or  another  stone. 

A  large  amount  of  oil  or  grease  rubbed  into  the  leather 
tends  to  keep  out  moisture  and  is  valuable  for  use  in  rainy 
weather  and  over  wet  roads.  To  apply  it,  the  dry,  clean  leather 
is  slightly  warmed  and  the  oil  is  well  rubbed  in  with  a  rag 
soaked  with  it  until  the  degree  of  saturation  of  the  leather  re- 
quired is  reached. 

But  very  heavy  oiling  of  shoes  fills  up  all  pores  of  the 
leather  and  interferes  with  evaporation  of  perspiration,  caus- 
ing the  feet  in  warm  weather  to  be  constantly  hot  and  sweaty, 
and  producing  much  the  same  results  as  would  follow  the  use 
of  a  rubber  boot.  This  constant  moisture  softens  the  skin 
of  the  feet,  and  tends  to  cause  it  to  break  down  more  readily 
in  the  formation  of  blisters  and  abrasions.  Only  just  suffi- 
cient oil  should  thus  be  used  on  the  shoes,  during  dry  weather, 
to  keep  the  leather  supple.  Heavy  oiling  should  not  be  done 
except  when  constant  exposure  of  the  shoe  to  wet  is  anti- 
cipated. It  is  better  to  let  the  feet  get  thoroughly  wet  now 


144  The  Soldier's  Foot  and  the  Military  Shoe 

Fig.  54 


Illustrates  the  quantity  and   location   of  nails  used   in   fastening  on  a  half  sole, 
with  their  liability  to  produce  foot  injury. 


The  Soldier's  Foot  and  the  Military  Shoe  145 

and  then  than  to  keep  them  constantly  hot  and  moist  by  pre- 
paration against  storms  which  may  be  only  occasional. 

Most  prepared  waterproof  dressings  for  the  shoes  con- 
tain either  wax  or  paraffine.  Both  these  substances  are  un- 
desirable, as  rilling  up  the  pores  of  the  leather  and  interfer- 
ing with  evaporation  of  perspiration  and  hardening  the  shoe 
in  cold  weather.  In  the  French  army,  a  mixture  of  three  parts 
of  mutton  tallow  to  seven  parts  of  neatsfoot  oil  is  used ;  the 
proportion  of  tallow  being  slightly  diminished  in  cold  weather. 
Tanners  generally  use  a  mixture  of  mutton  tallow,  cod-liver 
oil  and  a  little  potassium,  worked  in  with  a  cloth  with  the  aid 
of  gentle  heat.  Many  prepared  shoe  dressings  contain  a  cer- 
tain amount  of  sulphuric  acid,  which  soon  induces  drying  and 
deterioration  of  leather  and  predisposes  to  cracking,  rotting 
of  stitches  and  entrance  of  dirt  and  water. 

For  working  over  rough,  rocky  country,  or  one  with 
smooth,  short  grass,  hob  nails  may  be  driven  sparingly  into 
the  soles  and  heels.  They  give  a  much  better  foot-hold  on 
such  surfaces  and  in  addition  greatly  save  the  sole  and  heel 
from  wear.  But  they  should  not  be  put  in  too  thickly,  as 
this  interferes  with  the  grip  of  the  foot  on  the  ground;  nor 
should  they  be  driven  completely  through  the  sole,  as  they  are 
apt  on  the  one  hand  to  be  pressed  in  and  hurt  the  feet,  or  on 
the  other  to  be  pulled  out  and  leave  holes  through  which  water 
and  sand  will  enter.  The  socalled  Hungarian  hob  nail,  with 
a  steel  head,  is  best.  Smaller  hob  nails  should  be  put  on  the 
heel  than  on  the  sole. 

The  shoes,  if  damp,  must  not  be  used  in  the  field  as  a 
head  rest  at  night.  This  use  will  press  the  leather  out  of 
shape,  and  if  it  dries  during  the  night  serious  discomfort  and 
possible  foot  injury  may  result  from  wearing  such  shoes  in 
the  morning.  The  shoes,  on  being  taken  off  at  night,  should  be 
worked  into  their  proper  shape  with  the  hands  and  placed  on 
their  soles  so  that  the  air  may  have  access  to  their  interiors  to 
dry  and  purify  them. 

If  military  conditions  are  such  that  the  soldier  cannot  take 
off  his  shoes,  at  least  the  laces  should  be  loosened  so  that  the 


146  The  Soldier's  Foot  and  the  Military  Shoe 

feet  may  be  relieved  as  much  as  possible  from  pressure  and 
more  air  may  get  to  them. 

When  soldiers  are  living  in  tents,  the  shoes  should  never 
be  placed  in  the  center,  where  they  are  very  liable  to  be  trod- 
den upon  and  pressed  out  of  shape.  In  barracks,  the  proper 
place  for  shoes  in  frequent  use  is  under  the  bunk;  for  those 
not  in  such  use,  within  the  man's  locker. 

In  the  field,  the  shoes  must  be  protected  from  dampness 
during  the  night.  The  shelter  tent,  poncho  or  corner  of  the 
blanket  will  protect  against  rain  or  dew.  But  a  large  amount 
of  dampness  also  rises  from  the  ground,  and  to  protect  against 
this  the  shoes  should  have  the  poncho  or  bedding  under  them, 
or  be  raised  from  the  ground  by  hanging  up  or  by  elevation  on 
brush  or  pieces  of  wood  or  stone. 

In  the  field,  during  freezing  weather,  the  shoes  must  be 
carefully  dried  out  by  the  soldier  before  going  to  sleep.  Fail- 
ure to  do  this  will  result  in  a  shoe  shrunken  and  hard  as  horn 
in  the  morning,  and  into  which  the  soldier  cannot  get  his  foot 
until  the  leather  has  been  thawed  out.  If  the  shoes  cannot  be 
dried  out  before  bedtime  under  such  conditions,  the  soldier 
must  keep  them  on  all  night  or  take  them  to  bed  with  him  un- 
der his  blankets  so  that  they  cannot  freeze. 

If  it  is  desired  to  dry  out  shoes  rapidly  in  the  field,  clean 
pebbles  may  be  slightly  heated  in  the  mess  tin  over  the  camp 
fire,  put  into  the  shoe  and  shaken  about  in  it  until  the  inside 
moisture  has  been  driven  off  as  vapor.  But  these  pebbles 
must  not  be  so  hot  as  to  injure  the  leather.  Hot,  dry  cloths 
stuffed  into  the  shoes,  and  if  necessary  re-heated,  will  also  soon 
absorb  any  contained  moisture. 

If  wet  shoes  are  packed  with  dry  oats  overnight,  the  oats 
will  absorb  the  moisture  and  by  their  consequent  swelling 
keep  the  leather  of  the  shoe  from  shrinking  and  preserve  its 
proper  contour.  The  oats  must  be  carefully  shaken  and 
brushed  out  of  the  shoes  in  the  morning,  for  if  any  remain  they 
may  cause  foot  injury. 

Where  a  shoe  has  been  wet,  and  through  neglect  is  subse- 
quently dried  out  in  a  way  to  render  it  hard  and  shrunken,  the 


The  Soldier's  Foot  and  the  Military  Shoe  147 

only  way  in  which  it  can  be  made  immediately  available  for 
the  march  is  to  sponge  off  the  leather  with  water  until  it 
again  becomes  soft  and  yielding  to  the  foot.  To  march  in 
damp  shoes  will  do  no  harm ;  to  march  in  hard,  wrinkled  and 
shrunken  shoes  will  almost  certainly  result  in  foot  injury. 

One  pair  of  uppers  will  usually  wear  out  two  sets  of  soles. 
When  a  sole  is  worn  thin,  a  half  sole  should  be  shaped  and 
tacked  into  position.  But  no  more  nails  should  be  used  than 
are  necessary  to  fasten  on  the  half  sole  firmly,  and  the  nails 
should  be  well  clinched  and  pounded  smooth  inside. 

During  ordinary  campaign,  under  usual  conditions  of  moist- 
ure and  roughness  of  roads  as  found  in  this  country,  a  pair  of 
shoes  may  be  expected  to  last  about  two  months  and  be  suffi- 
cient, with  light  repairs,  for  a  journey  of  five  to  six  hundred 
miles  over  ordinary  terrain.  But  local  conditions  may  very 
materially  modify  and  reduce  this  estimate.  Rocks  and  sharp 
gravel  rub  away  soles  rapidly,  particularly  if  wet;  while  con- 
tinued wetting  for  a  fortnight  or  so  may  cause  the  stitching 
to  rot  and  the  shoe  to  fall  apart  and  become  unserviceable. 


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